Is This Why Counsel Haven't Received Raises Yet?
Sorry, but you're just too expensive.
‘Where’s my money?’
With some firms seeing expenses driven by compensation increases rising faster than revenues as a percentage, obviously that’s not a sustainable trajectory. It causes problems economically … and also can cause problems culturally, in that you have other people in the firm saying, ‘What in the world is going on?’
— Kent Zimmermann, a law firm consultant with Zeughauser Group, offering some insights to the American Lawyer on why counsel compensation hasn’t mirrored the new associate raises that are reverberating through Biglaw. He says that counsel are similar to income partners in how they’re paid, and that firms are uncertain about adjusting their salaries due to the domino effect of increased expenses.
Staci Zaretsky is a senior editor at Above the Law, where she’s worked since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on Twitter or connect with her on LinkedIn.
