Simmons & Simmons did not pay any of its London non-equity partners a bonus last year, with the firm opting to overhaul its bonus system as a result.

None of the firm's 41 City-based salaried partners qualified for a payout in 2008-09, as the bonus scheme was linked to the firm as a whole reaching its target budget, which was missed.

Simmons then opted to overhaul the bonus structure ahead of the current 2009-10 financial year. Instead of linking the bonus to the performance of the firm as a whole, it is now tied in to the performance of the firm's London office.

The new scheme means non-equity partners will be eligible for a bonus payout as long as at least 50% of the target budget for London is reached, with the amount paid out dependent on how close the office comes to reaching its target.

As part of the review, Simmons also added a number of factors by which salaried partners are assessed in order to qualify for a bonus. These include billable hours, fees, revenue generation, client and business development and lock-up management, with the firm also taking into account other factors such as corporate social responsibility.

Earlier this month Legal Week reported that Simmons is in the process of overhauling its associate pay model to a merit-based system. If approved, associates will no longer automatically move up the lockstep pay bands based on post-qualification experience. Instead, promotion to the next pay band will depend on individual performance evaluations.

The firm is also set to launch a review of its associate bonus payment system in a bid to move further away from measuring payment based on billable hours.

Simmons saw profits per equity partner fall by nearly 20% to £520,000 during 2008-09, with turnover remaining static at £291.3m.

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