Sonnenschein cuts staff and drops lockstep pay for associates

Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal laid off an undisclosed number of non-lawyer staff members last Friday. The US law firm also plans to abandon lockstep pay. Associates will be divided into three categories: associate, managing associate and senior managing associate. Salaries will no longer be based primarily on tenure, but on competency. Bonuses also will be more merit-based and not exlusively tied to billable hours. More US firms are expected to introduce similar associate compensation plans.

Sonnenschein cuts staff and drops lockstep pay for associates newsblogs.chicagotribune.com Wed, Dec 16, 2009