Associates At Freshfields Outline 'Best Practices' For Law Firm Work

We're all well aware of the efforts firms are making to improve the lot of Associates - in an effort to avoid attractive entreaties of rival firms. Instance: Freshfields London have hosted their first Associates-only conference and they're now working on developing a 'best practices' group to spread across the firm. This "we're listening to you" attitude will doubtless be followed by the appropriate action by the firm which saw partners and 200 Associates listen to key areas of associate-interest, including career paths, pay, work-life balance, appraisals, training, knowledge management and business development.

Let's watch what happens . . at Freshfields and other large, law employers. It's an Associate-Advantage world out there.

Law Firms Slowing Recognizing Rights Of Gay Employees, It Seems

Gay Rights has become an increasingly significant issue for many law firms who, surprisingly lag behind other areas in the recognition of gay staffers (witness the recent Cravath stoush and the publicity that went with it.) In London, bankers JP Morgan are running a seminar for its panel of lawyers on gay employment issues.

'The Lawyer' reports http://www.thelawyer.com/cgi-bin/item.cgi?id=124732&d=11&h=24&f=46 that its initiative has been spearheaded by assistant general counsel and JPM managing director Tim Hailes and global co-general counsel Diane Genova.

Hailes told The Lawyer: “The firms’ commitment to this agenda will be a relevant factor [in the bank choosing them]. It isn’t the deciding factor, but it will be taken into account as part of our assessment, and not doing it won’t be viewed positively. We want to see change.”

The law, it seems, is moving slowly but surely into the 21st century.

Are Law Partnerships Forever? Of Course Not

The Mayer Brown downsize recently, where the firm reduced its equity partners in order to stay lean, mean and able to attract the talent it needs to grow and compete, is not a problem for Mayer Brown alone. As the National Law Journal reports there are many other firms in a similar position.

Ranked ninth in The National Law Journal's 2006 survey of the nation's 250 largest firms, Mayer Brown, with 427 equity partners, nevertheless languished at 51st in average profits per equity partner, according to The American Lawyer. The firm's average profits per equity partner were $955,000.

Another firm with a big disparity between census and equity partner profits is 375-partner Fulbright & Jaworski, the nation's 24th largest law firm but ranked 75th in partner profits, according to NLJ.

Law firms have limited options in boosting average equity partner profits, besides upping billing rates, improving collection and taking the risk of expanding practice areas. Decreasing the number of equity partners has become a popular tactic.

More firms are removing lower performers from their equity ranks, said law firm consultant Richard Gary. And it is not just a U.S. trend. London's Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has shed some 50 equity partners, about 10 percent of its equity ranks, since May 2006.

Law Jobs Disappear In Purge At Mayer Brown

The moves by Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw to purge 45 partners demonstrates the new urgency and economics in running a profitable law practice. The purge of almost 10 per cent of the Chicago partners - almost Stalinist in scope - is unprecedented, particularly given the size of MBRW and its status as eighth on the American Lawyer law firm ranking, with partners taking a shade under $1 million each (profits per partner).

The firm's revenues topped $1 billion for the first time ever and they worked hard to minimize any suggestion of crisis. The fact is though, that the firm has lost lawyers to other law firms, particularly in New York, which has impacted revenues and morale alike.

Once again, another confirmation that nothing is forever and Big Law is as vulnerable as the rest of us to the shifting sands of law practice.