Reed Smith is offering more attractive compensation for its junior lawyers, but the firm will expect its pound of flesh in return. Annual remuneration for NQ lawyers at the firm has been lifted from £61,000 to £63,000, placing the firm ahead of City rivals Stephenson Harwood and Trowers & Hamlin, which offer £62,000, and Addleshaw Goddard, which offers £61,000. However, in return for the juicier remuneration packages on offer, the firm is also lifting billing targets for its junior staff by 13 per cent over the next two years. Currently expected to bill 1,500 hours per year, next year the figure will rise to 1,600 and will increase again to 1,700 in 2018.
Hours on the up
The lifted billing target will place Reed Smith above Trowers & Hamlin and Stephenson Harwood, which have targets of 1,560 and 1,550 hours respectively, but on the same rung as other City rivals including Hogan Lovells, Herbert Smith Freehills and Baker & Mackenzie. A spokesperson for Reed Smith said that lifting the target for junior staff will help the firm keep step with the upward trajectory of targets across the City, which have hit 1,900 at Kirkland & Ellis and Latham & Watkins. 'At Reed Smith, we take a performance rather than a PQE-based approach and our competencies, expected hours and remuneration structures ensure that each lawyer can be rewarded for performance and not just for years post qualification,' said a spokesperson for the firm. Source: Legal Cheek
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