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The first signs of recovery?

In relation to how law firms will structure themselves in the future: Although associate-to-partner leverage has, and is being, reduced, the real issue is the relative increase in the number of non-equity partners. The increasingly larger ranks of non-equity partners are effectively acting as senior leverage, while helping the equity partners (who have the real business generating talent) to protect their already reduced profit shares. Law firms are in fact giving up the pyramid model. They are hoping to in future to build 'diamond shape' models - the top tip being an ever tighter group of equity partners, the chunky middle part senior associates past 4PQE and non-equity/salaried/fixed share/local partners (ie senior leverage for want of another name), the lower end the junior associates/junior leverage - who in the future will increasingly be paralegals and contract attorneys.

30-Mar-2009

2:18 pm