Compensation & Benefits for Law Offices

With Apologies to Don Henley Remember when the days were long And rolled beneath a deep blue sky Didn’t have a care in the world With Mommy and Daddy standin’ by But “happily ever after” fails The lawyers dwell on small details Since Daddy had to fly

For some in the human capital arena, this may be the first serious recession they have faced. Many human resources and talent-management leaders are being asked to handle reductions in force (RIFs) and to help choose who stays and who goes—perhaps for the first time.

Major Lindsey & Africa has been one of the premier law firm placement firms serving the U.S. legal market for more than 25 years. When MLA speaks about what law firms are looking for in new recruits, prospective employees should listen.

The practice area to which a new associate is assigned is often a rather low-level consideration devoid of compensation consequences and not fraught with career concerns. Where does the firm need an extra pair of hands? Which subject matters most interest the new associate? Such collegial considerations often settle the issue.

Partner compensation invariably is the topic of most interest in every law firm. It is also a topic that involves the most fervent debate and encompasses the most varied points of view. Not surprisingly, partners will normally advocate a compensation system that most favors their strong points as attorneys. Partners who do not generate much of their own business but have high billable hours obviously promote a system based upon billable hours. Partners who tend to bring in a great amount of “rain” and allow it to be serviced by others normally promote a system based upon origination.

Most human resources professionals know that the key reason employees leave is due to a bad manager, right? But if this is the case, why do HR executives spend so much time on compensation?

Incentive Comp Data Sparse When it comes to documenting the rationale for paying bonuses, methodologies for managing incentive compensation, and linking pay to performance, U.S. businesses lack even rudimentary histories of what they did and why. This finding comes from the latest survey from Workscape Inc. and the Human Capital Institute. …

Employee Engagement, Retention, and Loyalty Seminars, New York City, June 23-24. Contact: The Conference Board, 845 Third Ave., P.O. Box 4026, Church Street Station, New York, NY 10261-4026. 212-339-0345; www.conference-board.org 2009 Lawyer Development Institute, Washington, D.C., June 25. Contact: Association for Legal Career Professionals, 1025 Connecticut Ave. NW, Suite 1110, Washington, DC 20036-5413. 202-835-1001; www.nalp.org …

The trend toward positive results among 401(k) investment yields solidified during the first two months of second-quarter 2009. Looking at annualized performance, all reported indexes returned to or surpassed the level of their yields of 12 months ago, except the Ryan Labs-Treasury and Ryan Labs-Cash. Lehman Brothers’ and Salomon Brothers’ year-on-year performance was slightly negative but essentially on par. Even the four funds that have consistently shown double-digit negative performances in past months improved their positions over a year ago. Looking at monthly performance, May numbers from all reported indexes, except Ryan Labs-Treasury and Ryan Labs Treasury 5-year, showed improvement over March results.

LIVE NATIONAL CLE EVENTS AND CONFERENCES July 2009 Accountants Liability: Litigation and Issues in the Financial Crisis, Chicago, July 7-10. ALI-ABA Conference on Insurance and Financial Services Industry Litigation, Boston, July 7-10. ALI-ABA National Association for Court Management Annual Conference, Boston, July 7-11. NACM NDAA Summer Conference, Orlando, Fla., July 12-15. NDAA Private Equity Forum 2009, New York City, July 13-14. PLI …