It has been revealed by an insider that Allen & Overy's performance related bonuses won't be paid to its NQs for five years.

Lawyers at the firm with more than two years' PQE have their performance-related bonuses deferred for a year in a bid to encourage them to hang around a bit . Those with fewer than two years' PQE get a flat rate bonus every year, but it's all put in a pot and not paid, according to our insider, until "15 months after the financial year end of their third year as an associate". So that would mean a trainee qualifying next month won't see a bonus until, errr, July 2011.

A spokeswoman for the firm said that basic salaries were very competitive and the bonus was structured "to reward long term contributions to the firm".