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.