​The Partner Remuneration Handbook: A Guide to Compensation in Law and Other Professional Service Firms

Years ago, I worked in a firm where junior solicitors earned 90% of the conveyancing fees and the senior partner earned the rest.

Those were the days when the role of a partner was to get the work in and others would do it. The American expression for this was ‘finders, minders and grinders’. The senior partner gets the work in, someone else looks after the firm, and the assistants do the work. The profession has changed, with less profit, more competition, and fewer solicitors wanting to be partners.

This book is about how to pay partners. A simple question one might think but all sorts of issues arise. The partners in a traditional small firm might expect to share the profits equally. But what if one partner is a ‘finder’ who spends time socialising to bring in work; another puts in long hours but handles cases that have low fees; and the third spends half their time on management? Added complications might arise if a partner is absent for family or health reasons. Get it wrong and the partnership may fail or divide. Resentment may lead to others leaving.

This book is not cheap but it is a valuable examination of how to measure performance and contributions. It also examines issues such as diversity and how to reward achievement. It is probably aimed at larger firms. (I was surprised to learn that mine is a ‘micro-firm’.)

As far as I know, this is one of the few books to tackle these issues. These questions will be more straightforward in a new firm but as the firm grows and matures, people change as does their contribution. Being a partner can feel like riding a tandem. Both the person at the front and the one at the rear think they are doing all the pedalling.

One answer on which this book supplies guidance is to have a remuneration committee. This may be an option for larger firms.

David Pickup is a partner at Pickup & Scott Solicitors, Aylesbury