The coronavirus pandemic has seen Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer suspend its latest quarterly partner distributions along with bonuses and reviews.
For the three months to April, the law firm will not be paying to partners and it has put a freeze on pay rises for its lawyers globally. It has also delayed a decision on bonuses until later in the year, according to reports from Law.com.
Freshfields operates 27 officesz globally with over 2000 lawyers and almost 5000 staff iin total.
Temporary flexible working arrangements and reduced hours will also be offered by the firm for those who are interested.
“We are focused on supporting our people and continuing to serve our clients as we all adapt to the social and economic uncertainties,” a Freshfields spokesperson said.
“We are managing our business responsibly and will continue to invest in our business for the long term.”
Equity partners’ remuneration at the magic circle law firm rose 6 per cent to £1.8m in the 12 months leading up to the end of April 2019, making them some of the highest paid corporate lawyers in the City.
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Freshfields’ US growth ambitions has forced out equity partners across London, Paris and Germany, the Financial Times reported on 13 July, weeks after a pay overhaul left dozens of its roughly 500 partners holding fewer equity points. Freshfields reset its internal exchange rate from $1.60 to the pound down to about $1.30, then handed extra points to its top US earners so their dollar pay held. Points are a share of a fixed pool and Freshfields’ European partners are the pool. The Financial Times reported this week that Freshfields has culled equity partners in recent weeks, with its London headquarters and its Paris and German offices all seeing exits and equity downgrades. City AM ran it as a shake-up to fund the American push, which it is. What neither write-up reached is the ledger entry that explains it, and that ledger entry has been sitting in public since March. Log in to read . . .
