Abandoning lockstep pay would go a long way towards solving the crisis in associate recruiting and retention. And it would serve firms better financially, writes Dan DiPietro

In 1729 Jonathan Swift proposed that Ireland’s poor eat their young to prevent them from becoming a burden. The reaction to his satirical essay, unsurprisingly, was shock, disbelief and bemusement. This is not unlike the typical reaction I get from law firms to a far more modest but serious suggestion.