Last year saw a number of big-money partner moves, from Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom’s hire of White & Case private equity star Richard Youle, to Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer buyout heavyweight David Higgins’ $10m move to Kirkland & Ellis, and many top UK firms are rethinking their compensation systems in an effort to ward off the advances of US rivals with money to burn.