Bonuses can be a powerful motivator—and a strong indicator of how much your firm values your contribution. But what does the bonus landscape actually look like for lawyers in 2025?
We’ve analysed bonus data from almost 1,000 lawyers across the North West, Yorkshire and the West Midlands. Here’s what we found.
🔢 Not Everyone’s Getting a Bonus
Just under half of all respondents told us they’d received a bonus in the last 12 months—meaning bonuses are far from guaranteed across the profession.
In practice areas like private client, family, and personal injury, bonus schemes appear less consistent. When they are offered, they’re often modest—typically between £1,000–£3,000. That said, we saw some standout bonuses of £5,000+ for lawyers with niche expertise or leadership roles.
Bonuses were more common among mid- and senior-level lawyers—especially those in Court of Protection, high-value litigation, or commercial roles.
📊 Bonuses Reflect More Than Billings
While performance-related bonuses were the most common, some lawyers received discretionary bonuses for things like team support, management responsibilities, or hitting firm-wide goals.
This suggests some firms are broadening how they define “value” and are starting to reward non-billable contributions—an encouraging trend for those in supervisory or hybrid roles.
💡 Is Your Bonus Keeping Pace?
If you haven’t received a bonus recently—or yours feels out of step with your level of contribution—it might be worth asking why. Bonus structures vary widely from firm to firm. If your rewards aren’t keeping pace with your contributions, we can help you find firms that are willing to invest in you.
Get in touch with our practice area specialists for a confidential benchmarking chat.
