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1 Young Law. (ABA) 1 (1996-1997)

handle is hein.journals/yglwyr1 and id is 1 raw text is: Volume I Number I So, Paner, How Much Do You Make? whnit flomas to new rtn oq peston. Not sur- law fir mana er closely guard salary information. As an associate, unless you have an inside track with a talk. ative mentor, it may be difficult to separate salary fact from fic- tion. You can, however, get a reliable idea of what to expect once you cross that threshold into partnership. Numerous factors figure into calculating new parner com- pensation. Some ingredients have little, if anytlhing, to do with the aspiring partner. Others directly stem from charctens- tics of the partreer-to-be. Take a look at both aspects to get a clear pictuJre of your potential bottom-Itne as partner. A prmary element is your firm's compensation system, If you don't know already, tactfully inquir about the firm's method of determining compensation. In general, law firms use three basic compensation systems, according to James D. Cotterman, a senior manage- ment consultant with Altman Wail Pensa, Inc. Sumonv performance-relat- ed systems are those in whic h the firm, actin roug h an indivdual a committee, or as a whole, reviews the performance of each member, including whatevermage ment informration is available, and sub- jectively determines a relaiVe value for eahpartnr Locx- SrE or equal sharing sys- tam, is one in which partner from the same fl.a ~ a4 c&n 4fMr~ class are advanced tog#ether untfil they reach a full share inter- est in the firm. In its extreme form, this system ehminates the inrtermediate steps and all part- ners immediately share on anq equal basis. 0Betv efomnerlt ed systems attempt, through the use of vanous criteria, to arrve at a numeric value to be used to determine compensation. A combination of these basic systems is preferred by nearly half of the respondents to our Compenation Systems /n Private Law Firms surey. Lock- step/equal shaning as a pure system was least preferred, while pure, subjective-oriented systems were ranked second. There are consi derable differ ences based on practice spea cialty and size of firm, Cotterman notes. Another determinant outside your ream of influ- ocei s the standard ageof salanes in your geographical 4 ., region for your firm's tpe and size. ranges that apply to 4'4 your situation is fair- ~~ ly simple. Several cals publish annual saaysurveys. Each year, Altman WedI Pensa, Inc.. a manaeet ban Pfuadalphia, pubishe sur- veys that include cmesto systems in pnvate law firmsan annual law department salaie. Also consider what class of partner is on your immediate horizon. Law firms today distin- guish between 'equity part- ners,' 'nonequity partner,' and 'contract parners.'In general, these distinctions focus on the financial consequences of the differences among the cate- gones. A recent compensation system survey revealed that about one-third of the respond- ing firms had a second class of owners: more than 40 percent of larger firms had mutilevel systems. Most often nonequity partners shared in profits but did not share in voting rights. Continued on page 3

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