Wednesday, April 21, 2004

Axe swings at Simmons & Simmons in profits drive Simmons & Simmons London partners have been hit by a programme of de-equitisation as the firm attempts to address its profits slump. The firm is axing up to 11, or 12 per cent, of its 94 London equity partners while introducing higher billing targets that will see partners now expected to bill 1,500 hours a year compared to a previous benchmark of 1,200 hours. The firm has seen a steady decline in average profits per equity partner (PPP) since 2000-01 when it reached £412,000. Since then, Simmons PPP has dropped to £375,000 to the most recent financial year’s £300,000 average partner profit. Simmons will attempt to increase profits by 33.3 per cent to £400,000 by next year. Simmons has already begun the cull and targeted partners are still negotiating with management whether they will be de-equitised or leave the firm completely. Also in an attempt to retain its top partners, the partnership voted earlier this year to introduce a floor in partner compensation, allocating an additional 10 per cent of profits to the bonus pool in bad years Normally, 80 per cent is paid out on a modified lockstep with the remainder allocated to a profits pool. Now if profits fall 20 per cent below budget, 30 per cent will go to the profits pool with 70 per cent based on modified lockstep 7:26:42 PM    comment []

New Patent Fight The Electronic Frontier Foundation launched a campaign this week to persuade the government to revoke patents the EFF considers harmful to innovation and free expression by small businesses or nonprofit organizations. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has seen a surge in software patents covering general business methods, which critics say are overly broad. Among them: the online shopping techniques of one-click purchases and electronic shopping carts. "Rather than watch the problem get worse, we see it as an opportunity to show the harms that some of the patents are causing," EFF staff attorney Wendy Seltzer said For instance, Ms. Seltzer said, dozens of small retailers now face lawsuit threats for using a virtual shopping cart on their Web sites. EFF plans to choose what it deems the worst offenders and work to get the patents re-examined -- and rescinded -- by the government. The patent-busting campaign follows an October report from the Federal Trade Commission addressing questionable patents and recommending, among other things, better ways to challenge a patent's validity without going to court. 7:25:23 PM    comment []