The Tiger Woods Effect: Law Firm Superstars May Discourage Other Lawyers

Law firms that want to hire a few superstars to promote competition should consider the Tiger Woods effect, a researcher says. The superstars could actually spur other lawyers to reduce their efforts.

Jennifer Brown of the University of California at Berkeley comes to this conclusion in a study (PDF) of higher-skilled golfers playing against Tiger Woods. The golfers tend to do worse when playing against Woods, even more so when he is on winning streak. Yet this superstar effect disappears when Woods is in a slump.

Brown suggests that competition between equals can boost efforts because the effort appears winnable. But when one of the competitors is a superstar, the probability of winning is low so others may reduce their efforts.

She says law firms and other businesses may want to consider her findings.

“Associates in law and medical firms compete to become partners,” she writes. “Their competition is effectively a tournament, since firms take on more associates than there are available partner positions. If the presence of a superstar undermines the efforts of other associates, and the additional gains from the star do not offset the losses from the others, then a firm might be better off hiring a cohort of similarly talented associates.”

A hat tip to Portfolio.com, which wrote about the findings, and Legal Blog Watch, which noted the Portfolio blurb.