Do an associate's high billables reward the partner? Forum

[Anonymous User]

This question relates to profit sharing and how partners get credit for the business they bring in.

For instance, if I'm helping a partner out on one of his clients, and I bill a ton of time doing work for the client (justified time, not just billing for the sake of billing), does the time I'm billing translate into the revenue the partner helps bring to the firm, or do partners merely get credit for bringing in the client?

[SFSpartan]

I'm not sure exactly what your question is, but the below is an attempt to answer the question I assume you're asking, which is as follows: "Does a partner's origination credit includes time that others bill?" The answer is generally going to be yes, partners get credit for business they originate, whether they work on the matter or have others do so. How this affects their compensation will be firm-dependent. Also firm dependent is how the firm distributes responsibility for associate overhead costs (i.e. your salary, the money you spend on legal research, expense accounts, etc).

[Anonymous User]

I'm not sure exactly what your question is, but the below is an attempt to answer the question I assume you're asking, which is as follows: "Does a partner's origination credit includes time that others bill?" The answer is generally going to be yes, partners get credit for business they originate, whether they work on the matter or have others do so. How this affects their compensation will be firm-dependent. Also firm dependent is how the firm distributes responsibility for associate overhead costs (i.e. your salary, the money you spend on legal research, expense accounts, etc).

OP here. Yes, thank you for wording that so much better. The question is "Does a partner's origination credit includes time that others bill?"

[Anonymous User]

At my firm, yes, I think the way origination credit is monetized is through the total bill. Otherwise there would be no incentive to bring in big versus small matters.

[rpupkin]

For instance, if I'm helping a partner out on one of his clients, and I bill a ton of time doing work for the client (justified time, not just billing for the sake of billing), does the time I'm billing translate into the revenue the partner helps bring to the firm, or do partners merely get credit for bringing in the client?

It varies between firms and even within firms, but in general: yes, if this is one of the partner's clients, the parter's share will increase—to some degree—in proportion to the amount of revenue coming in from that client.