Calling Freshfields associates - help RollOnFriday crack the code
Freshfields associates in London are awarded top bonuses if they exceed 2,150 hours a year, according to a pay chart leaked to RollOnFriday.
A source said the firm is having a strong push to increase hours. The insider said partners at the firm were initially "quite smug" when Freshfields was the first Magic Circle firm to raise NQ salary to £150k, as "they didn't think other MC firms would have the headline NQ pay".
But once all the other MC firms did match its NQ salary, the firm's tone "changed and there was a strong focus on everyone increasing hours year-over-year" in the most recent townhall meeting. The insider added that "morale is low to say the least".
Freshfields awards pay rises to its solicitors according to its 'Career Milestone' system. The 'associate reward grid' passed to ROF shines a light on the thresholds at which fee-earners can obtain bonuses for their hours, and also when they get rewarded for 'milestone' acheivements. And it details their base salaries:
Diving into the 'Reward Grid', 'CMF' stands for Career Milestones Foundation and is understood to cover the NQ level (see the 150 figure in the table). It also captures 1PQEs - see the 155 figure.
2PQEs and 3PQEs are understood to fall within CM1, which according to the table attracts a base salary of £165k up to £190k. CM3 and CM4 cover the rest of the associate levels, topping out at £240k.
Then there are the bonuses. The grid shows that hours bonuses begin at 1,750 hours per year (for just over seven billable hours a day, ROF reckons), with the next level at 1,950 hours a year (just over eight hours a day).
The top bonuses are on offer for associates who hit over 2,150 hours a year and require them to bill around nine hours a day, by RollOnFriday's calculations.
There's a second bonus section for 'milestone awards', which the firm describes on its website as relating to "benchmarks for career performance".
However, it is not stated that the bonus figures listed in the table equate to cold, hard cash, or how they stack on top of base salaries. Rather unhelpfully, the firm declined to explain, or even verify the table.
If you're at Freshfields and can crack the code, please do get in touch or comment below.
In the meantime, non-Freshfields readers are invited to speculate as what the bonus figures in the table represent:
See how Freshfields' pay scale compares with Trowers & Hamlins', which was provided to ROF earlier this year (answer: favourably), and US firm Akin Gump's (less so, even though it's from 2022).
Comments
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And how many of those hours are inflated time dumps? Suspect lots.
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It’s GBP, not points or Deliveroo vouchers. The flat bonus structure across different PQE is controversial and is still being debated internally
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I cannot believe that someone in say, corporate or private equity is getting paid the same as someone in a support department like employment. Seems insane?
56
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"how many of those hours are inflated time dumps?"
It's the Magic Circle who work exclusively for large listed companies where those instructing them have no skin in the game and aren't spending their own money (they're professional managers, not shareholders) or billionaire individuals who spend these sums on a handbag.
On top of that everyone there has to tell the system they're delivering seven hours of solid, client-facing service every single day of the working week. Or else be considred an underperformer.
[redacted]
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Chris81 15 November 24 10:41
Presumably they do fewer hours but are more intelligent so on balance they probably have a similar market value?
Or are you suggesting that corporate/PE paper shufflers could also do employment advisory work on top of all the DD?
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Chris81: non-contentious reg, IP and pensions aren’t billing 1750 hours or more ie no bonus. However, they do intellectually challenging work and have work life balance.
60
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After student loan and tax and NI that is about £120k a year if it is 240k gross (£10k a month). Not a vast given you spent at least 4 years of post age 18 studying and then 2 years as a trainee. Also if childcare is about £5k a month for 2 babies and your rent is £2k or £3k - that leaves you about £2m a month for travel, clothes food. Life is expensive. Firms need to pay well to get people to work there.
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Is the “milestone” a flat bonus (with then extra bonus on top for the hours)? That’s what it looks like. I wonder how you get an “outperformance award”.
38
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@10.29 gets a Friday chuckle. Disappointed it’s not WFH days.
50
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Freshfields has been notably good, going by ROF, at leading the Magic Circle on pay rises.
Not surprised the associates are expected to bill in return.
61
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This is only about £125k after tax annually, broken down as £2k for rent, £5k child care, £12k food and other amenities, £500 gas and electric, £1.5k car finance, £3k a new pair of trainers or a night out, £7k and backpacking, this will leave about £2m in savings unless my calculator is wrong
59
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Plenty of associates outside of corporate do their 1750 and therefore get bonuses. After all, a lot of the work is still transactional. With advisory on top we tend to be more consistently busy rather than the peaks and troughs of corporate. We're certainly not here for the work/life balance.
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ROF can't count working days (or they don't take annual leave)- with bank holidays, annual leave and away days, factored in, firms tend to budget for 220 working days per year.
7 hours a day is in fact only 1540 hours under that metric- which is why so many firms have that as a target.
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Wow, and you are telling me that you are advising people who made a big money ? 😂 IQ = 0 I hope soon your billable hours will end up, because it’s start to look like fraud
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£5k a month for two babies?!
A nursery is about £3000 max and a nanny on £50,000 is slightly more. £5000 net a month is about £90,000 gross and no one is paying that for childcare unless you’re an oligarch in which case you’re not needing to work at Freshfields
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"After student loan and tax and NI that is about £120k a year if it is 240k gross (£10k a month). Not a vast given you spent at least 4 years of post age 18 studying and then 2 years as a trainee. Also if childcare is about £5k a month for 2 babies and your rent is £2k or £3k - that leaves you about £2m a month for travel, clothes food. Life is expensive. Firms need to pay well to get people to work there."
I'm intrigued by all the single parents of two children working at Freshfields and paying all their bills alone. Or do we just assume that those working there have non-working partners?