Improving Your Managing Partner Compensation Model

What does your firm value in a partner? According to the results of consultant Edge International's 2015 Global Partner Compensation System Survey, the average law firm in the United States considers "client origination" first and "firm work" last when determining partner compensation.

It is easy to see why managing partners can end up with smaller slices of the pie. If your managing partner has reduced his or her rainmaking activities and billable hours to assume administrative duties, you might consider using an alternative compensation model of objective and subjective criteria to determine the partner's fair share.

Objective Criteria

To establish a basis for objective measures, work with your managing partner to set goals and allocate percentages to billable work and non-billable management responsibilities. How such allocations break down will likely depend on your firm's values and strategic objectives, but they might include financial performance, as