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What are your expected billables and comp?
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We pay partners only a percentage of the joint profits (no salary). Each of our partners takes a different percentage draw. This is loosely based on the hours they bill, how much they originate, how much they realize, etc. If they bill less or bring in a lot less (or no) business, their percentage is a lot less. We do not require any partners to buy in.
Just thinking this through, and I applaud the goals, but how is that fair to others who manage to dedicate the time to work? If an associate can become a partner on reduced obligations because of work-life balance why should anyone work the expected time commitments?
These are good questions. I think under our model it's a bigger issue for questions of overhead (-) and shared bonus (+). For hours versus comp, we already know how to solve that problem, i.e., Partner A bills 3000 hours a year and makes $$$$. Partner B bills 1750 hours a year and makes $$. We comp them differently based on production and origination, etc.
We have partners who are on a reduced draw - usually this is reserved for the old white guys who just want to “consult” on deals at their leisure, but I can’t see how you couldn’t apply it to reduced hour partners. At my old firm, we absolutely had associates on a reduced schedule make partner - as well they should. Maybe not as quickly as regular track associates, but I agree they should have the same opportunity.
We used non-equity status for this. To the world, these attorneys are partners so there is no distinction publicly. We include them in most business discussions except comp. We are very small which may make it easier.
My firm offers reduced shares for EPs working less than full time.