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3. Average BigLaw partner compensation increased…

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Average BigLaw partner compensation increased 26% in 2 years, reaching this high-water mark

By Debra Cassens Weiss

October 29, 2024, 10:35 am CDT

Average compensation for partners in larger law firms is $1.4 million, a record high that represents a 26% increase since 2022, according to a new survey by legal recruiting firm Major, Lindsey & Africa.

The percentage increase, the largest in the history of the biennial survey, is mostly due to a 26% increase in average partner originations, according to the 2024 Partner Compensation Survey, available here. A 36% increase in billing rates also contributed to the increase.

Billable hours, however, are only 2% higher than the average reported in 2014, four years after the survey began. The current average is 1,721 hours.

The 2024 Partner Compensation Survey is based on 1,718 responses from U.S. partners at the top 200 firms based on gross revenue. The survey, administered in the summer, sought compensation information for 2023.

The $1.4 million compensation figure is for equity and nonequity partners. Equity partners had average earnings of $1.9 million, while average earnings were $558,000 for nonequity partners. Average compensation for equity partners increased 32% since the 2022 survey, while the average for nonequity partners increased 21%.

The upward trend is expected to continue, according to an Oct. 24 press release.

Median compensation for all partners was a considerably lower $800,000, an indication that compensation at the highest levels is growing at a higher rate.

The survey also showed a compensation gap between male and female partners and between white and ethnically diverse partners.

Male partners earned an average of $1.6 million. compared to an average of $1.2 million for females. White partners earned an average of $1.4 million, compared to an average of $1.35 million for ethnically diverse partners. The gap varies based on ethnicity.

Law.com covered the survey (here and here) and spoke with report co-author Louis Ramos, a Major Lindsey managing director.

“It’s definitely a good time to be a law firm partner,” he said.

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3. Law firms cut compensation for some partners,…

Law Firms

Law firms cut compensation for some partners, freeing up cash for high performers

By Debra Cassens Weiss

October 15, 2024, 3:28 pm CDT

Law firms are cutting compensation for some partners because of reduced productivity or impending retirements, a contrast from more collegial days, according to consultants who spoke with Law.com.

“In the white-shoe days, it was unheard of to move somebody down” the compensation ladder, said Matthew Bersani, a founding partner of the Cliff Group, a legal consulting company, in an interview with Law.com.

Now, he estimates, about 10% to 20% of partners in a firm in any given year are seeing a reduction in shares or “points” reflecting ownership amounts.

Other consultants differed on the percentage of partners at firms seeing less compensation. Consultant Blane Prescott told Law.com that it is not unusual for 20% to 30% of partners to see compensation cuts.

But partners making less money are sometimes transitioning out of law practice because of retirements, said Kristin Stark, a Fairfax Associates consultant.

“Are firms still making difficult performance management decisions? Yes, they are. In some firms, you’ll still see 20% or so go down. But some of that will be driven by retirements,” she told Law.com.

Stark said downgrading partner compensation was more common during the financial crisis in the late 2000s and at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, good economic times are helping lower performing partners.

“With the uptick of law firm performance in recent years, there’s been some of what we’d call a peanut buttering of compensation,” involving spreading the money, Stark told Law.com.

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3. About half of surveyed lawyers are satisfied…

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About half of surveyed lawyers are satisfied with their law firm compensation, survey finds

By Debra Cassens Weiss

October 3, 2024, 9:03 am CDT

Only 52% of surveyed lawyers are satisfied with their total compensation, but the percentage increases with pay transparency, according to a law firm compensation survey by Law360 Pulse.

In firms with pay transparency, 74% of lawyers were satisfied with their total firm compensation, according to a Law360 story on the survey. Thirty percent of the surveyed lawyers said lawyer salaries were transparent.

Another 17% of surveyed lawyers said salaries at their firms were partially transparent. In this group, 54% of the lawyers were satisfied with total compensation.

The median base pay for associates was $120,000 at firms with 100 or fewer lawyers, $179,000 at firms with 101 to 600 lawyers, and $230,000 at firms with more than 600 lawyers.

The median base pay for equity partners was $250,000 at firms with 100 or fewer lawyers, $400,000 at firms with 101 to 600 attorneys, and $800,000 at firms with more than 600 lawyers.

Median bonuses were $15,000 for associates, $50,000 for nonequity partners and $170,000 for equity partners. The Law360 story did not break down bonuses based on firm size.

More than 1,150 lawyers responded to the survey, which was conducted from April to June. Survey respondents were asked about their compensation for 2023. Forty-one percent of the respondents were associates, 16% were nonequity partners, 27% were equity partners and 16% were other attorneys.

Law360 Pulse’s 2024 survey is titled Compensation Report: Law Firms.

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3. Lawyers seek over $288K per hour in attorney…

Law Firms

Lawyers seek over $288K per hour in attorney fees, payable in Tesla stock, for suit toppling Elon Musk’s compensation

By Debra Cassens Weiss

March 4, 2024, 1:28 pm CST

The three law firms that successfully sued to overturn SpaceX owner and Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s $55.8 billion Tesla compensation package are seeking attorney fees payable in company stock worth more than $5.6 billion.

The lawyers are seeking about 11% of Tesla shares worth more than $51 billion that were freed up as a result of the litigation, according to the brief supporting the fee application. They are also seeking more than $1 million for litigation expenses.

Law360, Reuters, Fortune and the New York Post have coverage of the fee request.

The fee request amounts to more than $288,000 per hour, according to the 127th footnote in the brief.

“These implied hourly rates and lodestar multiples are admittedly unprecedented,” the brief says. “But that is a function of the gargantuan size of the tort underlying this action, and plaintiff’s counsel’s
achievement of an unprecedented, total victory in challenging that tort.”

The three firms seeking the fees are Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossmann; Friedman Oster & Tejtel; and Andrews & Springer.

The record for a fee award in a shareholder case was $688 million in 2008, which was awarded to lawyers who sued over the collapse of the Enron Corp., according to the news coverage.

Judge Kathaleen McCormick of Delaware’s chancery court had ruled Jan. 30 that Musk’s $56 billion pay package was unfair to shareholders, Reuters previously reported.

The name plaintiff in the case is stockholder Richard Tornetta, who was at one time the drummer in the band Dawn of Correction, according to the New York Post.