Top Firms Consider Delaying Or Reducing Partner Profit Distributions
A Magic Circle firm is among those in talks on how to deal with partner profit distributions during the pandemic.
March 30, 2020 at 08:55 AM
3 minute read
Linklaters, Pinsent Masons and Fieldfisher are among the firms considering a reduction or a delay to the distribution of profits to their partners amid the COVID-19 pandemic disruption, according to people at the firms.
Profit distributions are typically paid out to partners on a quarterly basis, based on estimates for the firm's profits in the coming financial year.
Each of the three firms is currently deciding whether to pay the full amount at the usual time, according to people with knowledge of the situation at each firm.
Pinsents senior partner Richard Foley told Law.com International's Legal Week: "Businesses around the world are trading in circumstances that none of us have faced before; we're no different. In light of this, our focus is understandably on the health and wellbeing of our people, our clients and our suppliers.
"Right now, the guiding principle for most businesses is prudence. Ordinarily around this time of year, we make a quarterly distribution to our partners. Whether we will do so and if so, in what amount will depend upon how events unfold over the coming days and weeks."
The deliberations around partner profits were first reported in the Financial Times Monday.
Pinsents previously delayed its partner distributions in October due to the firm failing to hit billing and cash collection targets at the start of the financial year.
A survey conducted by Legal Week revealed that many lawyers are concerned about losing out on bonuses, job cuts and delays in billing as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Delayed payments could have a significant impact on firm finances. Analysis by Smith & Williamson last year showed that at the end of the 2018 financial year, the top 50 U.K. law firms were waiting to be paid a total of £5.6 billion in unpaid client invoices between them.
Over the same period, clients took on average 121 days to pay U.K. top 50 firms.
Read more
Lawyers Fear Billing Delays, Bonus Drops and Job Cuts Amid Virus Panic
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 AllLinklaters Sees Latest Partner Exit as UK Leveraged Finance Partner Walks To Simpson Thacher
2 minute readEx-Dewey & LeBoeuf Banking Lawyer on Trial in Germany’s Cum-Ex Tax Scandal
DLA Piper & Hogan Lovells Expand German Construction and Property Practices
2 minute readWhite & Case, Cleary Among Firms Gearing Up for Biggest London IPO Since 2022
3 minute readLaw Firms Mentioned
Trending Stories
- 1The Growing PFAS Morass: Why Insurance Should Cover These Products Liability Claims
- 2Dallas Jury Awards $98.65M in Botham Jean Killing by Dallas Officer
- 3In Talc Bankruptcy, Andy Birchfield Skipped His Deposition. Could He Face Sanctions?
- 4Pharmaceutical Patents: Benefits and Challenges
- 5Where Do Web-Tracking Class Actions Belong? 8th Circuit Weighs the Issue
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