Andrew Maloney

Firms are taking a variety of approaches to relieve the internal tension that comes from releasing partner pay data.

Kirkland & Ellis has announced the addition of two real estate partners in New York—one from Schulte Roth & Zabel and the other from Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson.

“There’s basically no firm that’s immune from market pressure, with very rare exceptions,” said one legal recruiter.

Billing rate growth continues to drive law firms' performance in 2024.

Specific litigation areas are driving demand for Big Law. Meanwhile, IP is the only law firm practice that saw a slowdown by Q3, according to one report.

“We’re having this realization in the industry" that law firm partners won't be able to have financial literacy "through osmosis alone," said Fairfax's Kristin Stark.

"Not only are we seeing lawyers busier, we’re seeing them busier across a pretty broad cross section of practices,” Citi's Gretta Rusanow noted.

"It looks like clear sailing for firms to outperform all but their profit heights of 2021” in 2024, said a new industry report Monday.

"It really is empowering from an associate’s perspective, because typically we're put in situations engineered by partners," said Mayer Brown associate Sydni Eibschutz about a networking program.

The general winner, along with the winners of the specialty categories, will be announced Nov. 13 at The American Lawyer's Industry Awards.

Under a better deal market, law firm lateral movement in corporate practices, such as private equity, funds, M&A and capital markets, will likely pick up.

Some firms now make partner pay data less accessible. Opening up pay data can lead to "a lot of partner dissatisfaction and angst," one consultant said.

Some law firms have said they are interested in a combination with a larger firm partly "to have the scale necessary to properly invest in technology," said one merger consultant.

"It's definitely a good time to be a law firm partner," said Major, Lindsey & Africa's Louis Ramos, referring to a survey showing partners are relatively happy with their pay.

The average origination amount for a partner also shot up last year, amid a general trend of partners maintaining bigger books of business.

The average origination amount for a partner also shot up last year, amid a general trend of partners maintaining bigger books of business.

"If the good ones are pairing up, you don't want to be the ones [left]," noted one industry observer.

More top law firms have initiated earnings expectations for their equity partners, such as at least $5 million to $7 million in business each year.

There are three major pricing errors, and many partners "don't grasp the balance between costs, pricing and profits," one expert says.

The two-partner move includes Doug Spelfogel, who was a co-leader in restructuring in Mayer Brown's New York office, and partner Derek Wright in Chicago.