In today’s highly competitive legal market, it has never been more important to have the best partners working for your firm. Such partners are crucial to developing strong relationships with clients, ensuring the delivery of high-quality advice to these clients, upholding the highest ethical and professional standards, motivating and managing your teams of lawyers and overseeing the efficient management of the firm. But how do you assess who your best partners are, before rewarding them appropriately for their contribution?
Under the traditional ‘lockstep’ system, partners are rewarded for their efforts based on their length of service as equity partners. Today, this basis for partner remuneration is the exception rather than the norm, as most firms have moved towards merit-based remuneration systems. Lockstep is not yet completely dead, as firms often operate a hybrid system with elements of lockstep and merit-based rewards, although increasingly, the merit-based element is the most important determinant of partner remuneration.
