Cotterman on Compensation
This blawg discusses all levels of law firm lawyer compensation, from associates to service partners, to rainmakers, to lawyer-managers, and senior lawyers who are phasing down in preparation for retirement. It comments on external market forces as well as the complex internal issues of system design, productivity, and motivation. It draws on Altman Weil’s extensive survey databases as a source of compensation trends and benchmarks.
Author: Jim Cotterman is a principal with Altman Weil, Inc., based in Newtown Square, Pa. He is the lead author of ABA’s Compensation Plans for Law Firms. He is a member of the board of editors of American Lawyer Media’s newsletter Accounting and Financial Planning for Law Firms. Another Altman Weil principal, Charles A. "Biff" Maddock, authors Maddock on Marketing.
Blawg Related Categories: Careers • Lawyer Pay • Law Firms • Associates • Partners • Consultant
Recent Posts from Cotterman on Compensation
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Changing the Rules on Associate Compensation
Maybe this time the profession is serious about associate pay changes. I’ve been a bit skeptical because the clamor for change is not new. What is new is the breadth of the realignment of pay…
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Alternative Fee Arrangements and Compensation
Firms wrestling with alternative fee arrangements (AFAs) often raise the question about how these arrangements will affect compensation decisions. They raise concerns about how to recognize performance if hours are no longer indicative of contribution. But…
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Economic Outlook
Quarterly the AICPA and the University of North Carolina’s Kenan-Flagler Business School conduct the Business and Industry Economic Outlook Survey. Participants in the first quarter 2009 survey included 1,183 AICPA members employed as financial executives in…
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Webinar on Law Firms In Transition
Altman Weil has announced a very interesting new survey on the state of the current legal market. The survey was designed to measure how law firms are responding to the economic downturn in terms of…
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Stepping Into the Future
Professor Richard Susskind OBE was interviewed by Mark Harding, Group General Counsel, Barclays on his new book, The End of Lawyers? This is a thoughtful commentary that may spur some introspection about the direction of the legal…
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Thoughts on Leadership Compensation
Leadership compensation is a topic we are getting questioned about. We thought a few comments might help get the discussions moving in the right direction. 1. If a firm wants good leaders (defined for…
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Thoughtful Commentary on Legal Profession
There is a very good piece published April 29, 2009 in Knowledge@Wharton titled Legal Strategy 101: It’s Time for Law Firms to Re-think Their Business Model. You may need to register to access this article,…
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The Two Forces Raising Rates and Compensation
I discussed the strong alignment of associate billing rates, the time value associates generate and the compensation paid associates during the recent Altman Weil Webinar, Financial Strategies for the Current Economy. In fact, the correlation…
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Stress Test Your Balance Sheet
Stress tests have grown from testing for heart disease to identifying the adequacy of bank capital during periods of prolonged recession. In the current economic downturn, a number of law firm’s have asked us to…
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Webinar: Financial Strategies for the Current Economy
A quick time out for a bit of promotion. My partner Alan Olson and I are presenting this 90 minute webinar, Financial Strategies for the New Economy, next Tuesday, April 21st. . Further information is available here.