Hi there,
No one wants to admit they were once at the highest levels of something that — in hindsight — feels like a pyramid scheme.
No matter how lucrative it was. 💲💲💲
But that was me — in my days as a very successful managing partner at a global firm.
It’s an uncomfortable truth to face. 😖
Here’s the thing.
Firms make a lot of money using their current business model.
A profit margin of 50% for a law firm is not unusual.
And at the end of the year, that profit is split among the equity partners.
It’s lucrative. Very lucrative.
But that model wasn't one that I wished for my kids to inherit.
As an industry, we have:
👤 Junior associates working every hour they can on soul-crushing tasks like document review — work devoid of any true value or strategic importance.
👤 Women and diverse lawyers who continue to be vastly underrepresented in the legal profession — especially at the partner and managing partner level.
👤 Associates living their lives in 6-minute increments, measuring time with friends and family against the opportunity costs of not billing one more fraction of an hour.
👤 Lawyers who suffer from astounding rates of suicide, addiction, and other mental health problems.
👤 Partners who’d love to create a culture that’s more sustainable, more balanced, and more welcoming — but who feel trapped in the “maximize billable hours” financial model they inherited.
And in truth, some partners feel that they’ve paid their dues as an associate and now deserve to be rewarded.
The uncomfortable truth is that we’re all in on it — not just those working in firms.
👑 GCs who — although often preaching the merits of work-life balance — sometimes send work out at 6 p.m., knowing their firms will turn the work by morning.
🙇♀️ The junior associates who are quickly indoctrinated to “look left, look right, and be the one who makes partner. At any cost.”
🫰 The not-so-junior associates who’ve learned that the more hours they bill, the more they get paid — and sacrifice everything else to improve their billables.
And here’s the last uncomfortable truth.
GCs can fix it: 100%.
GCs and their in-house teams control how budgets are spent — and how dollars are awarded.
GCs drive the demand.
Their expectations will keep everyone “doing what we’ve always done” (billing hours) — or shift the focus to outcomes and value.
Today, the most innovative GCs are the ones who are changing what they value from their firms.
After all, as a GC, does it matter how long it takes a firm to deliver the work you need from them?
What if GCs made outcomes — not hours — the currency of legal?
In my view, that would be a key first step.
It would open the door to innovation, efficiency, technology, and the many productivity improvements we’ve seen in other service industries in recent years.
From there, we (GCs, partners, associates, and everyone working in legal) could begin the process of rebuilding our profession in a sustainable way.
One that’s not so hard on our people.
Cheers,
