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2008 Law Firm Compensation Program Survey Results

By Jim Cotterman

Incisive Legal Intelligence Surveys (formerly Altman Weil Publications') recently released its sixth look at the methods and philosophies of compensation in private law firms: The Survey of Compensation Programs in Law Firms. Data were collected during the last quarter of 2008. This article provides commentary on highlights from the partner compensation portion of the study.

In the first survey on this subject in 1993, law firms were almost evenly divided on prospective, retrospective, or combined approaches to when the compensation decision was made. Fifteen years later, a retrospective philosophy prevailed in 41% of the systems, while 35% adopted a mixed (prospective and retrospective) philosophy. The clear loser over time has been the purely prospective approach. This reflects a market-driven need to recognize individual performance more quickly in order to attract and retain quality people. It is too early to conclude if this trend will make firms more competitive in the long term, or possibly more fragile in a market dominated by shifting loyalties and an economy visiting shifting economic fortunes upon law firm practices.

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