Law Firms
Jenner & Block Demotes or Ousts at Least 10 More Equity Partners
Posted Mar 6, 2008, 11:44 am CDT
By Debra Cassens Weiss
The Chicago-based law firm of Jenner & Block is pushing at least 10 more partners out of the equity partnership ranks and asking some of the lawyers to leave, sources told the Chicago Tribune.
The firm's chairman, Anton Valukas, refused to confirm numbers but said some lawyers have been put on “non-equity” status. He characterized the move as not all that unusual. "We periodically review how each of our partners and associates are doing and act on those reviews," he told the Tribune. "It's nothing different this year than we've done in other years."
Last year, the firm cut 15 to 20 equity partners. Other firms have done the same, including Mayer Brown, Winston & Strawn, and Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal, the newspaper says. The move can boost the profits of the remaining, more profitable partners.
Kay Hoppe, a Chicago legal recruiter and consultant, told the Trib that law firms are becoming more like sports teams. "They are adding and subtracting and doing what they need to do,” she said. “This is honestly going on almost everywhere I can think of."
Related Stories
- Famed Trial Lawyer Gerry Spence: My New Blog Frightens Me
Jul 18, 2008, 02:49 pm CDT - 2 Ex-Judges, 1 Attorney Indicted in Georgia Corruption Case
Jul 18, 2008, 01:13 pm CDT - Nice Work: California City Hires Law Firm for $50K Per Month
Jul 18, 2008, 10:36 am CDT - Orrick Partner Says Law Firms Must Change Promotion and Billing Structures
Jul 18, 2008, 10:32 am CDT
Commenting has expired on this post.
Comments
Posted by Wolfgang - 4 months, 1 week, 5 days, 17 hours, 21 minutes ago
Another example supporting the view that getting into a White Shoe law firm is NOT where it is at. And, another reason in support of the view that our claim to being a “profession” is more and more bogus. The sports team analogy is apt - too bad it also means that everyone will have to kowtow to a handful of egomaniacal prima donnas.
Posted by typical law firm - 4 months, 1 week, 5 days, 14 hours, 17 minutes ago
greedy rich lawyers - who has a joke for us
Posted by GG - 4 months, 1 week, 5 days, 11 hours, 31 minutes ago
There is no more loyalty in business. Bust your gut for 20 years making the rainmakers look good and maybe you’ll be in the partnership circle. The fact remains, you’re only as good as what clients you bring in the door. If you don’t hussle business, you’re expendable, no matter how loyal and how talented you are.
Posted by Get Real - 4 months, 1 week, 5 days, 6 hours, 42 minutes ago
What’s new? This stuff has been going on forever; it’s just done much more openly these days. I prefer it this way - it seems more honest than freezing out deadweights and giving them the silent treatment while waiting for them to get the hint. As an associate, I’ve seen that happen too many times, and it always made me feel bad for the partner who had to slink away in the middle of the night in shame. On the other hand, there’s nothing shameful about acknowledging that not every lawyer is cut out to be a rainmaker. And if you’re not (or me, for that matter), then you don’t deserve to be paid gobs and gobs of money just because you sat around in the firm and grew some white hair.
Posted by Augie - 4 months, 1 week, 2 days, 16 hours, 38 minutes ago
What ever happened to SERVICING the client? The bar associations always look for feel-good and politically correct causes to push - how about pushing a change in the attitude of the profession. GOOD lawyers should not have to suffer because they aren’t snake-oil peddlars and glad-handers.