Mishcons to introduce 'cradle-to-grave' bonus

Mishcon de Reya is set to introduce what managing partner Kevin Gold has described as a "cradle-to-grave bonus system" at the beginning of its next financial year, in April 2007.

The new bonus will be backdated to the beginning of the 2006-07 financial year.

The firm's staff consultation committee (SCC), which is made up of one fee-earner and one support staff member from each of Mishcons' four core departments, came up with the idea for the bonus after a wide-ranging review earlier this year.

Each department presented ideas to Mishcons' management board and the SCC last summer. The new bonus came out of these discussions and is the first tangible benefit of Mishcons' decision to introduce its SCC 18 months ago.

The bonus is linked to the performance of each of the firm's departments. Once a group has hit its budget a percentage of all monies from then on will go into the bonus scheme and be paid to fee-earners and staff on a graduated scale.

Currently Mishcons operates a discretionary bonus, which can be up to 40 per cent of salary for lawyers and staff.

Gold said that the council, to which he and each department head report on a quarterly basis, illustrated the emphasis Mishcons places on "inclusive values".