Performance metrics at Clifford Chance

Law firm Clifford Chance replaced its single metric of billable hours with 7 criteria on which to base bonuses:

• Respect and mentoring
• Quality of work
• Excellence in client service
• Integrity
• Contribution to the community
• Commitment to diversity
• Contribution to the firm as an institution

In 2002 a leaked memo from the firm contended that pressure to deliver billable hours had encouraged padding of billed hours and senior associates doing work that could be done by cheaper junior ones.

'The Five Traps of Performance Measurement', A Likierman, HBR Oct 09