China's Yingke Reduces Lawyer Performance Targets Amid Coronavirus Outbreak
Individual revenue targets for all of the firm's lawyers were reduced by 20%, but the firm says it remains confident it will achieve a 30% increase in firmwide revenue this year.
March 12, 2020 at 11:00 AM
3 minute read
China's Yingke Law Firm will implement a series of programs, including a reduction of lawyers' individual performance targets, to help overcome coronavirus disruptions.
The Beijing-based law firm said last week it will reduce the minimum revenue target for every lawyer in 2020 by 20% as part of an effort to help lawyers relieve performance-related stress during the downturn caused by the coronavirus. Women lawyers will receive a further 20% reduction on minimum performance target, the firm said, in order to encourage their growth.
In addition to performance targets adjustment, Yingke, which has nearly 9,000 lawyers, also announced a firmwide exemption for the cost of renting office and cubicle space in February, given that most lawyers in China weren't able to do business that month. Yingke operates in a traditional Chinese law firm structure where most lawyers operate as individual contractors with a firm affiliation; for a fee, they can share the firm's resources, such as office space and administrative support.
The rental waiver will apply to all 77 of Yingke's domestic offices, regardless of local regulations. New lawyers joining the firm between now and June 30 can work six months rent-free in their first three years.
Meanwhile, Yingke has also signed up all of its lawyers for an online virtual office system that will be available for free in 2020. The system, which the firm dubbed LAW WIT allows lawyers to handle case matters, sign documents and sort out administrative matters online.
The entire relief package, according to Yingke global chairman Mei Xiangrong, is worth rmb100 million ($14.4. million).
"The February rental exemptions alone are worth close to rmb30 million ($4.3 million)," Mei said. "The online virtual office system costs rmb3,650 per person per annum—that's over rmb32 million ($4.6 million) for 9,000 lawyers."
He added that, for 2,000 new lawyers, the six-month rental exemptions will amount to rmb40 million ($5.8 million).
Yingke is the second-largest law firm by head count in the world, according to the most recent Global 100 report. The firm also reported $624 million in 2018 revenue, a 40% increase from a year earlier, making it the 78th highest-grossing law firm in the world.
Mei said that, despite the reduction in individual revenue targets, he hasn't lowered expectations for the firm's overall revenue in 2020.
"In the past, over 90% of our lawyers achieved revenues exceeding their targets … We expect firm-wide revenue to grow no lower than 30% this year," he said.
Even if a lawyer performed below their target this year, they will not lose their job, according to Mei. "As long as they recognize our culture, they will have the chance to make up next year," he said.
|Related Stories:
China's Yingke Grows in US Without CKR, Recruiting Some of Its Lawyers
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
NOT FOR REPRINT
© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
You Might Like
View AllNew Frontiers: Gaillard Banifatemi Shelbaya Launches in Cairo and Abu Dhabi
4 minute readTravers Gives Holiday Bonus, Ropes & Gray Reduces Time Off Allowance
1 minute readJapan’s Mori Hamada Joins Funder LCM for $150M Credit Suisse Bonds Claim
Law Firms Mentioned
Trending Stories
- 1Gibson Dunn Sued By Crypto Client After Lateral Hire Causes Conflict of Interest
- 2Trump's Solicitor General Expected to 'Flip' Prelogar's Positions at Supreme Court
- 3Pharmacy Lawyers See Promise in NY Regulator's Curbs on PBM Industry
- 4Outgoing USPTO Director Kathi Vidal: ‘We All Want the Country to Be in a Better Place’
- 5Supreme Court Will Review Constitutionality Of FCC's Universal Service Fund
Who Got The Work
Michael G. Bongiorno, Andrew Scott Dulberg and Elizabeth E. Driscoll from Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr have stepped in to represent Symbotic Inc., an A.I.-enabled technology platform that focuses on increasing supply chain efficiency, and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The case, filed Oct. 2 in Massachusetts District Court by the Brown Law Firm on behalf of Stephen Austen, accuses certain officers and directors of misleading investors in regard to Symbotic's potential for margin growth by failing to disclose that the company was not equipped to timely deploy its systems or manage expenses through project delays. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton, is 1:24-cv-12522, Austen v. Cohen et al.
Who Got The Work
Edmund Polubinski and Marie Killmond of Davis Polk & Wardwell have entered appearances for data platform software development company MongoDB and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The action, filed Oct. 7 in New York Southern District Court by the Brown Law Firm, accuses the company's directors and/or officers of falsely expressing confidence in the company’s restructuring of its sales incentive plan and downplaying the severity of decreases in its upfront commitments. The case is 1:24-cv-07594, Roy v. Ittycheria et al.
Who Got The Work
Amy O. Bruchs and Kurt F. Ellison of Michael Best & Friedrich have entered appearances for Epic Systems Corp. in a pending employment discrimination lawsuit. The suit was filed Sept. 7 in Wisconsin Western District Court by Levine Eisberner LLC and Siri & Glimstad on behalf of a project manager who claims that he was wrongfully terminated after applying for a religious exemption to the defendant's COVID-19 vaccine mandate. The case, assigned to U.S. Magistrate Judge Anita Marie Boor, is 3:24-cv-00630, Secker, Nathan v. Epic Systems Corporation.
Who Got The Work
David X. Sullivan, Thomas J. Finn and Gregory A. Hall from McCarter & English have entered appearances for Sunrun Installation Services in a pending civil rights lawsuit. The complaint was filed Sept. 4 in Connecticut District Court by attorney Robert M. Berke on behalf of former employee George Edward Steins, who was arrested and charged with employing an unregistered home improvement salesperson. The complaint alleges that had Sunrun informed the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection that the plaintiff's employment had ended in 2017 and that he no longer held Sunrun's home improvement contractor license, he would not have been hit with charges, which were dismissed in May 2024. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Jeffrey A. Meyer, is 3:24-cv-01423, Steins v. Sunrun, Inc. et al.
Who Got The Work
Greenberg Traurig shareholder Joshua L. Raskin has entered an appearance for boohoo.com UK Ltd. in a pending patent infringement lawsuit. The suit, filed Sept. 3 in Texas Eastern District Court by Rozier Hardt McDonough on behalf of Alto Dynamics, asserts five patents related to an online shopping platform. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Rodney Gilstrap, is 2:24-cv-00719, Alto Dynamics, LLC v. boohoo.com UK Limited.
Featured Firms
Law Offices of Gary Martin Hays & Associates, P.C.
(470) 294-1674
Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone
(857) 444-6468
Smith & Hassler
(713) 739-1250