Legacy Lovells partners are set to receive their first bonus payments under US merger partner Hogan & Hartson's bonus structure.

Hogan Lovells International will pay out 7.5% of its profits from 1 May to 31 December 2010 as partner bonuses. Both salaried and equity partners will be entitled to the bonus, which will be split between payments in May and September this year.

The firm will distribute 10% of its 2011 calendar year profit pool to partners next year and 15% in 2013 – at which point it will be in line with legacy Hogan's bonus.

The bonus will be allocated according to partners' overall contribution to the firm, including not only the volume and profitability of work billed, but also other factors such as client wins, pro bono work and internal management roles.

Individual bonus amounts will be decided by a remuneration committee comprising the firm's co-chairs John Young and Claudette Christian, as well as litigation co-head Craig Hoover and Hamburg corporate partner Andreas Meyer.

Young said: "The bonus will be brought in on the legacy Lovells side over a three-year period to ease the transition. This is a major step in aligning our two legacy remuneration systems."

Bonuses were discussed at the firm's partnership conference earlier this month, along with issues including ongoing efforts to bring Lovells' modified lockstep in line with Hogan's merit-based partner pay structure. The integration started when the merger went live on 1 May 2010 and is expected to take three years.