Commercial litigation practice Signature Litigation has confirmed significant profit rewards to all of its staff under a collaborative remuneration model set up by the firm on its launch last year.

Signature – which was launched by former Hogan Lovells litigation partners Graham Huntley (pictured) and Helen Brannigan in April last year – has confirmed that all of its 26 staff have received a profit share ranging from 21.1% to 36.1% of their salary, following a strong financial performance in its first year since launch.

More than half of the firm's full-time fee-earners received the top reward of 36.1%.

The practice operates two additional reward schemes, one for exceptional performance and the other for exceeding working hours. In the latter, staff have been paid up to 15% of their basic salary.

The profit sharing scheme, which was set up when Signature was launched, was intended to give all partners and associates a stake in the firm, while all staff have been involved in the firm's future budget plans. The firm said it expects to take on more staff throughout the year and will release its financial results later in the year.

Huntley and Brannigan left Hogan Lovells last March to set up the new venture with a team of associates. The idea was to create a dedicated commercial litigation practice, without the conflict issues associated with full-service law firms.

CEO Kevin Munslow – the former Olswang CEO who joined Signature for its launch last year – said: "It was exciting putting Signature Litigation together because Graham Huntley had a vision of developing a culture through a simple and transparent profit sharing scheme that captured everybody in the business. The strong financial performance in the start-up is not only impressive but has vindicated our innovative approach that the partners were fully committed to."