In the wake of similar moves by other international law firms, Reed Smith has announced its abandonment of the traditional lockstep promotion system in favour of a new competency-based program which will classify its associates not by year but by competency level. The new program, which has been branded as CareeRS, is being rolled out across the firm’s offices in the US, Europe and the Middle East, but its Asia offices – Hong Kong and Beijing – will have to wait for the next phase of the roll out.

“We don’t really have a date targeted yet [for Asia]. I think we need to do some work here adapting [CareeRS] to this market. The program was developed based on a series of competencies – in different areas at different levels. That’s really been done in conjunction with partners in the US and the UK. So we need to run through that same process here… we need to be sensitive to differences in the market,” said Michael Pollack, partner and global head of strategy at Reed Smith.

CareeRS sets out a roadmap of those skills required at each level – junior, mid-level or senior. It will address the four core areas – legal skills, citizenship, business skills and clients – as well as focusing on nine core competencies. Associates will be assessed on their mastery of key legal skills, support of the firm’s culture, demonstration of leadership and business skills, and how they understand and manage client needs. “You can’t do this program without doing the training. On the business side, the [training] plan is to do a mini-MBA program,” said Pollack.

The firm is selling this program, both internally and externally, as a means to reward performing associates whilst simultaneously providing a support and training system for those who require assistance in their development. In theory, junior associates would be able to move through to senior level without being limited by their PQE provided they can prove their competency.

“In reality, for us higher pay would mean more competent associates which, at the end of the day, is what we are trying to develop. We’re not trying to drive a result on the compensation side, we’re really trying to drive a result on the competency side and if we’re able to do that we will pay people what they’re worth and for us that would make it a successful program,” said Pollack. He also confirmed that CareeRS was not developed as a result of the GFC.

Of course, this new system also enables Reed Smith to ditch automatic pay increases for those underperforming associates. However, this change may not be as controversial as it first appears. “This trend already exists,” said Jacqueline Keddie, managing consultant at recruitment firm Law Alliance. “Maybe [Reed Smith] is taking it to a greater level but if you think about it firms don’t say at this level of PQE you get x dollars, they say at this level of PQE you get between x and y.” As for holding back automatic pay increases, Keddie notes that law firms don’t generally reward underperformers in any case. “Anyone who is operating under their level is going to be shown the door,” she said.

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