The battle to recruit top associates is driving a raft of City firms to resort to ‘golden hello’ bonuses to beat rival offers without breaching internal salary band restrictions.
Top 10 UK firms Herbert Smith and Allen & Overy (A&O) have told Legal Week that, in the past year, competition has driven them to offer one-off sign-on bonuses to sway the decision of potential recruits. A&O has offered the bonus once while Herbert Smith has offered such deals a handful of times during the past 12 months.
