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Reed Smith is the latest among international law firms to drop the traditional lockstep pay system setup for associates.  As early as January 2009, Skadden had already proposed taking such a step, arguing that in many ways associates are already rewarded in line with their efforts – in reality high performing associates are already paid at the top of the pay scale whereas lower performing ones are paid at the lower end.  From the recruitment perspective, this will likely give firms adopting merit based pay structures an advantage to attract and indeed retain the very best associates in an ever increasing competitive market for talent.