Law firms are tweaking partner compensation in response to competitive pressures. And certainly, some firms have taken steps to recognize nontraditional compensation criteria such as collaboration. But on the whole, compensation drivers have largely remained unchanged since comp plans were first developed. 

Many comp plans still in use today were created as early as the ’80s, when firms had fewer competitors, more regional work, and not many LPOs or other ancillary businesses. As a result, “compensation plans for yesteryear often fail to recognize what is required of lawyers today,” said Tim Corcoran, a law firm consultant at Corcoran Consulting Group.