The other day I wrote about a financial planner who is doing his small part to improve the lives of the financially oppressed by helping lawyers who, despite making seven figures, are still somehow struggling to get by.
My first reaction was to showcase my lack of empathy, which has in fact been a lifetime challenge for me. I am working hard on self-improvement, but I am constantly hampered by the fact that I really don’t care much about the injuries sustained by rich people falling over themselves to maintain their membership in the conspicuous consumption club.
Those of you who know me understand that I am a legend in my own mind. One of my self-identified talents is the ability to see around corners. And yet, I had not given much thought to how the significant expansion of the class of lawyers earning millions of dollars a year is making life difficult for those who run law firms.
Luckily for me, a kindly senior lawyer at a firm of some significant size reached out to me to help me understand the struggles of law firm management. He told me that hourly rates are skyrocketing, demand is high, business is good, and there is no end in sight to their ability to make partners rich. However, he lamented that there is a dark side to all of this. Apparently, the market for lawyers is very competitive. He said that law firms have a real challenge – they must run a business which will reward partners with seven figures and much more, or their partners will jump ship. He likened it to a professional sports league where everyone is a free agent.
I used to be an advocate for the theory that successful law firms require lawyers with diverse skills, all of whom must come together to make the whole greater than the sum of its parts. I promoted the sharing of wealth equitably among the thinkers, the business promoters, the billers, the mentors, and even the practice administrators. One of my former partners, now a Big Law partner likely earning a few million a year, favoured giving most of the money to those who could bring in the work. He would tell me that the problem with my theory was that if I took money away from the business promoters like him, they would jump ship and that would make us less profitable, and everyone’s income would go down. I would counter that if we created a team where everyone contributed our skills, the whole would be greater than the sum of its parts, we would all be happier, and we would all make more money.
Apparently, I was wrong and he was right. The money must go to those who are bringing in the big bucks, or the whole thing crumbles. Who knew?
At least I can still cling to the hope that all those huge earners are not very happy. But I am probably wrong about that too.
This article was originally published by Law360 Canada, part of LexisNexis Canada Inc.