Norton Rose partners have voted down proposals to strengthen central management's control over the partner assessment process, opting instead to make the existing team-based system more effective.
As Legal Week revealed earlier this month, the firm has been examining how it can improve the productivity of partners who have so far avoided scrutiny.
Litigation head Peter Rees, who led the review, told Legal Week that the existing process, where the team leader would assess each partner within their team, had not been successful because it was not being carried out across the board.
"We had to ensure the appraisals would get done," he said.
At a partners' meeting on 12 September, Rees' team put forward several options including the creation of a central appraisal committee, and removing the responsibility from the team leaders.
But the firm's partners rejected the idea, opting instead to make sure the existing system operated more effectively. Rees said: "I am very happy with the outcome. We have made improvements. I think it is right that the line management should do the appraisals."
Simmons & Simmons is one of the few City firms that has set up a central committee to assess partners on an individual basis.