Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer‘s highest-paid LLP member took home 68% more last year, pocketing £3.2m at the end of the 2014/15 financial year, compared to £1.9m the previous year.
The firm’s LLP accounts said the profit and remuneration for the top-paid member includes payments in relation to that member’s retirement from the firm.
The increase in pay is a stark difference to what was paid in the 2013/14 financial year when the filings revealed that the highest paid member, including payments relating to retirement, took a 24% drop from £2.5m in 2013 to £1.9m. In 2014, Freshfields had 334 members on average.
In 2014/15, fee earning staff headcount rose 2.7% to 2,640 while secretarial and support staff increased 3.5% to 2,119. Overall headcount grew by more or less the same mark from 4,621 to 4,759 by 3%.
Overall staff costs at the firm increased by 2.7% from £547.7m to £562.7m despite salary and social security costs falling 1% and 5% respectively, while other staff costs rose 24% from £48.5m to £60.2m.
Revenue at the firm was more or less flat around the £1.3bn mark, while profit for the year before members’ remuneration and profit shares rose very slightly to £511.8m from £509.7m. However the profit available for discretionary division amongst members fell 13% from £552.1m to £481.3m, while profit for the year before partner annuities also dropped 4% to £506.3m from £527.6m.
For more on Freshfields see: The last champions – meet the leaders intent on sealing Freshfields’ place in the global elite
jaishree.kalia@legalease.co.uk
