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Leadership: Linking Business Development to Partner Compensation

By Timothy B. Corcoran
November 02, 2014

In recent years, as client fee pressure has increased and client loyalty has decreased, law firms are investing significant time and money in business development programs. Some partners receive training to dust off selling skills that were largely unnecessary during a time of plenty. Other partners receive training, then individualized coaching, then more training, then more coaching, in an often-futile attempt to turn everyone into a capable rainmaker.

Mathematically, if every equity and income partner generates just a little bit more, this creates far more impact than demanding even more production from a handful of true rainmakers. Trouble is, this rarely works as planned. There are logistical, financial and psychological barriers to this plan of turning every partner into a rainmaker, and it's time law firm leaders recognized its ineffectiveness, and instead adopt a more productive approach. It's time to touch the third rail of law firm management: partner compensation.

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