Law Firm Non-Equity Partner Subjective Compensation Factors

Question:

Our firm is a seventeen-attorney commercial litigation firm in Atlanta, Georgia. I am a member of our firm’s management committee that decides raises and bonuses for non-equity partners and associates. Currently our non-equity partners are paid a salary and a discretionary bonus. We would like to stay with this approach however we have had complaints that our system is totally arbitrary. We would like to be able to provide more transparency – a general list of the items that we consider when making our decisions on salary and bonuses. You thoughts would be appreciated.

Response:

Here is a suggested list of factors with weights that you might want to consider:

Fee Production – Client Origination Collections – 25% weight
Fee Production – Working Attorney Collections – 25% weight (billable hours in some firms)
Profitability of Work – 10% weight – (effective rate per hour, realization, etc.)
Delegation of Work – 10 weight (delegation to paralegals and associates)
Client and Case Management – 5% weight
Technical and Professional Competence – 5% weight
Professional Conduct – 5% weight
Firm Management and Leadership – 15% weight

You can adjust this list for your particular situation and what is important for your firm.

Here is a sample list of subjective compensation factors with detailed consideration factors with weights and points.

Click here for our blog on compensation

Click here for articles on other topics

John W. Olmstead, MBA, Ph.D, CMC

Posted at 09:21 AM in Compensation
Tags: Compensation, Factors, Firm, Law, Non-Equity, Partner, Subjective

Jan 03, 2019

Law Firm Non-Equity Partner Subjective Compensation Factors

Archives

Categories