Lovells is closing the door on its controversial lockstep review after partners narrowly decided against making radical changes to the firm’s lockstep.

The majority of the partners (52%) are understood to have been in favour of bringing in powers to move partners up the lockstep and around 50% of the partners who voted were also in favour of more far-reaching proposals to increase the top end of the lockstep from its current 60-point plateau to about 75.