Anonymous wrote:My favorite PSA about not being a lawyer:

https://youtu.be/Xs-UEqJ85KE

that's awesome

Anonymous wrote:My husband works extremely hard. He is a law partner and has put in extremely long hours every year and is usually compensated well for his work. He also does a lot of special things for his firm. Last year was a bad year for the firm because the corporate side (he isn’t a corporate lawyer) over-hired in 2020
& 2021) and overall profits were down 20%. Dh billed in the top 10% of partners in his practice area and top 2% of all partners and yet he just learned that his bonus and overall comp are going down 25% and he’s being moved down a level of partnership. He is really upset, questioning all his choices, etc.
I have no one I can talk to about this irl. I’m sad for him, worried about our expenses, and I know he is worried about his job security.
And yes, I do have my own job but fortunately I have a lot of job security. Unfortunately I also make a lot less than he does.

Have you consider changing fields? Perhaps you could bring in more money to the household, too, instead of depending on your husband.

Anonymous wrote:Retired big law partner here. I hate to say this, but the only “special things” that matter to management in down years are clients and hours - in that order. It’s an unforgiving business.

Yup, the only special things he should be doing should relate to landing his own clients. The only partners slightly immune from lean years are the ones bringing in the money that everyone else is getting paid with. You should understand that he is in a partnership, so essentially self-employed and sharing the profits and losses among the other partners, after staff is paid. Save accordingly. Some years will have losses.

Fascinating thread, mostly because the signal-to-noise ratio is much better than the norm on this site. Obviously there are a lot of biglaw lawyers here.

None of this is good news. Think about law firm economics this way. When profits are expanding, there is room to take care of everyone and keep them happy. Everyone has an expectation of growth, and when it’s good it’s good. But when distributable income starts shrinking, you realize it’s a zero sum game. There is no reservoir of retained earnings to fall back on - there is a lot of pain and it has to be parceled out. For everyone who gets a little more than they “deserve,” someone has to suffer a loss. Those with big books of business will be cut less, and may not be cut at all, because the firm literally can’t afford for them to leave. If they start leaving, the firm goes into a death spiral. Been there, done that. Meaning that the pain left to be inflicted on all of the good worker bees, through no fault of their own, is disproportionate. Comp gets cut significantly more than it “should” be but it’s a function of the type of business.

Your spouse needs to figure out a few things, and it sounds like he doesn’t have a lot of good connections to help him do so, which is concerning.

Is this a temporary blip for the firm or the start of a death spiral? If the former he may be able to tough it out, if the latter he should start figuring out next steps now.

Is the firm ok but his practice group on the chopping block? His partners in the group should have a sense of that - if so the leaders are probably marketing themselves (and hopefully the whole group) already to other firms. Whether they are planning on taking him along, and whether a new firm will take him, really depends on his overall value to the practice.

Even if neither the firm nor the practice group is in danger, unfortunately his position is only truly safe if he has made himself indispensable to multiple people who do have big books. If he rides it out he can still expect disproportionate comp cuts
.
I’m sorry. Biglaw sucks. I can’t wait to retire and am very happy to have saved enough to do so a bit early if needed.

OP, partners in a niche practice that provide necessary support to other practices but don't generate a lot of billable themselves are in a tough position. Unlike some PPs, though, I think a lot of firms do recognize that they need such expertise to provide a full suite of service to clients, so I don't think it means your DH is being pushed out. FWIW, at my DH's biglaw firm there are many partners every year who move down a comp level - and often they move up again a couple of years later. But moving levels is definitely not unusual at every firm.

This doesn't sound that dire to me, though granted I was a big law associate who never made partner 20 years ago so wtf do I know? But the firm had a bad year and everyone's earnings are down. It hurts when your husband billed a ton and worked hard, but he directly asked if they're pushing him out and they didn't hesitate or hem and haw, they said no we're not. So I wouldn't panic at this point. He could put out some feelers to judge his worth elsewhere, if he wants, but I would not be looking to move on this basis alone. But again, what do I know?

Anonymous wrote:First, being a top biller doesn’t matter. What matters is how much he generates in billables/collections, not just for his own work but also for work others do for his clients. The most valuable partners don’t bill a whole lot of their own time, but generate a ton of billable time by others.

Second, there’s no way to know what this means without knowing whether it’s isolated to him/his practice, or is a first-wide equity restructuring.

This, it’s how many attorneys is he keeping busy with work he has brought in. Being a top biller personally only matters when one is an associate.

He should polish his resume. He's being managed out.

Anonymous wrote:Op - he’s in a very niche practice group and considered a star in his field. Unfortunately it’s not a practice group that makes a ton of money for any firm but he did collect well (95% I think last year). He works with a lot of different clients including his own and those he shares with partners in other practice areas. He does a ton of BD and markets himself a lot.
He’s involved in very important aspects of the firm (thinking hiring, pro Bono, diversity) in additional to billing a lot.
Yes, we have saved, and we will be ok. He asked if he was being softly pushed out and was told no, that this was simply an across the board reduction. His closest partner in his group was also down 25%.

OP, it’s also possible that his entire practice group is being phased out, which happens, especially if not lucrative.

My favorite PSA about not being a lawyer:

https://youtu.be/Xs-UEqJ85KE

Hiring pro Bono and diversity are not respected and career advancing areas to be spending his time on OP

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:First, being a top biller doesn’t matter. What matters is how much he generates in billables/collections, not just for his own work but also for work others do for his clients. The most valuable partners don’t bill a whole lot of their own time, but generate a ton of billable time by others.

Second, there’s no way to know what this means without knowing whether it’s isolated to him/his practice, or is a first-wide equity restructuring.

This guy gets it. It's not about the hours he bills, it's about how much he originates. Being a high biller as a partner is economically the same as a high billing associate.

+1

Plus, if he’s an equity partner (so an actual partner, not a in-name-only-partner), he’s part-owner, and therefore he, and all the other partners, SHOULD take a hit in personal income if profitability for the firm is down as a whole. If he’s not an originator, then his income will be cut more than those who actually have the clients.

Let him worry about the firm politics. You worry about shoring up investments, keeping things stable at home, cutting expenses without impacting his QOL or ability to pay for necessary “convenience taxes” to keep working at the level he has.

-former biglaw counsel married to biglaw partner

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:First, being a top biller doesn’t matter. What matters is how much he generates in billables/collections, not just for his own work but also for work others do for his clients. The most valuable partners don’t bill a whole lot of their own time, but generate a ton of billable time by others.

Second, there’s no way to know what this means without knowing whether it’s isolated to him/his practice, or is a first-wide equity restructuring.

This guy gets it. It's not about the hours he bills, it's about how much he originates. Being a high biller as a partner is economically the same as a high billing associate.

Ypu mean this woman gets it.

It's a meme reference.

Anonymous wrote:First, being a top biller doesn’t matter. What matters is how much he generates in billables/collections, not just for his own work but also for work others do for his clients. The most valuable partners don’t bill a whole lot of their own time, but generate a ton of billable time by others.

Second, there’s no way to know what this means without knowing whether it’s isolated to him/his practice, or is a first-wide equity restructuring.

Agreed. The biggest issue here is that OPs DH is a partner and is under the impression that billing hours, hiring, and diversity efforts are what matters in terms of value to the firm. My advice to OP is to suggest to her husband that he find new or different mentors to help him navigate his firm and the industry. Good luck.