It’s a common theme among law firm leaders, particularly big law firm leaders, to claim that their firms have some sort of vaunted “culture” that has been painstakingly developed over many years. This incredible culture, the theory goes, imbues the firm with some kind of wonderful familial aura, enabling the firm and its lawyers to respect a time-honored profession.
Based on what I’ve seen lately, I have to largely call bullshit on all that. Yes, at one time, the practice of law was indeed a profession. Lawyers practiced in stable firms, firms that often had partners who had been there their whole careers. Compensation was often lock step under the one for all theory. As partners aged or had some bad years, they remained partners, albeit at perhaps reduced compensation. Under this milieu, many firms did indeed have a culture developed by long time partners who understood how the firm developed and grew. There was a history made by people who knew their seniors when they were young and who now were seniors to the next generations. Culture was important.
But something changed. As profits per partner began to rule the day, law firms turned from culture to profits above all. Want some proof? Here are three developments that were recently reported:
3 recent reports bear this out:
1. Moving associates to full partnership has been replaced by the practice of creating large classes of “nonequity” partners. A recent article shows just how pervasive this has become. Let’s face it: nonequity partners are just glorified associates. They have no stake in the partnership; they have little control over their work and lives. Why has this happened? It’s all about money and control. The more nonequity partners there are, the fewer equity partners there are to share in the overall pie. And as discussed below,