Despite concerns at the outset of the pandemic, the legal industry has performed quite successfully over the past two years. In recent months, we’ve seen another round of associate compensation hikes. And the lateral hiring wars show little sign of fizzling out anytime soon. It’s also clear many firms have shown a renewed interest in fostering a healthy firm culture and in finding ways to show associates their firm is invested for the long term.

Together, these circumstances present an opportunity and a challenge to articulate not only what that investment entails, but also the expectations that come with it. For many firms, one component of this endeavor ought to include more frank, open discussion with young lawyers about firm economics and the economics of associate compensation in particular.