Boutique partner compensation Forum

[Anonymous User]

Reading the V50 first-year equity partner thread inspired me to start a similar question about boutiques. Does anyone have inside info (or even educated guesses) about partner compensation at the elite litigation boutiques (Susman Godfrey, Kellogg Hansen, Hueston Hennigan, MoloLamken, Bartlit Beck, Wilkinson Walsh etc.)?

The only information I've been able to find is for Susman Godfrey, which has a reported RPL of $1.5 million and a PPEP of $2.5 million. I'd guess that puts junior partners at something like $0.8-1.2 million and rainmakers at $5-10 million, but that's just my guess. I don't know if other boutiques are more or less profitable given their size.

Very interested in hearing y'alls thoughts. As always on TLS rumors, speculation, and anecdotes are welcome.

[Anonymous User]

It's totally impossible to gauge this. Boutiques are the opposite of lockstep so there is probably a fair bit of disparity amongst partners. Several of the firms you mentioned on there do a lot of contingency cases, too, which can create big comp variations from year to year. It's impossible to get the info you are seeking.

[Anonymous User]

Not a litigation boutique per se, but I worked for a time at an LA boutique that made market/above-market compensation for associates a selling point in recruiting. The partnership track was shorter, and most of the younger partners were clustered just slightly above where they would have landed had they still been associates in their respective class years. The upside was that you were a partner; the downside was that you had to buy in and the partnership distributions were significantly less predictable than was salary. A couple of rainmakers obviously did better, but most older partners landed somewhere between high six figures and low seven figures. I'd say it was a good deal for the partners who didn't work that hard, but a bad deal for the ones who did.

[Anonymous User]

Bartlit Beck I think only has an equity partnership and has like 80 equity partners to 10-20 associates. A lot of boutiques are similar in that they have low leverage. Unless you're doing contingency fee cases, there is absolutely no way that you can pay out V50-like draws to most partners. If you're 1:1 (i.e., 1 associate/counsel/nonequity partner per equity partner) in terms of leverage, you're not going to compete with V50 firms sitting at 5:1. Look at William's & Connolly's numbers on law.com ($1.5M PPP and $1.1 RPL), which has roughly 2:1 leverage. Those are the numbers you should expect out of an elite lit boutique that doesn't do contingency fee cases. Like another poster said, you have some huge rainmakers making proper biglaw money, and then you have a fair number of equity partners who make V50 counsel +100K money who get to do a lot of litigation that they wouldn't get to do at a V50 and have lower hours, more respect as equity partners, and don't want to hop and try to grind it out at a V50 where litigation prospects are notoriously dogshit. Of course, you have partners in between those two ends of the spectrum.

That's the true selling point of firms where 30-50% of the lawyers are equity partners. I work at such a boutique (though not one of the ones listed above), and the atmosphere is genuinely 100x better than biglaw. We only hire highly credentialed people, and it's made clear over and over that equity partnership is almost guaranteed if you put in 1,700+ hours of work a year. You might miss out on bonuses some years, but you'll still make equity. For me, the trade was well worth it. For people chasing every last dollar, I'd only entertain a boutique if it's a contingency fee-driven one that is known for paying massive bonuses or above market salary. Otherwise, just stay and grind away at a V50 if you really want the comp. You certainly won't get it at a lot of elite boutiques if you end up being their average equity partner.

[Anonymous User]

Reading the V50 first-year equity partner thread inspired me to start a similar question about boutiques. Does anyone have inside info (or even educated guesses) about partner compensation at the elite litigation boutiques (Susman Godfrey, Kellogg Hansen, Hueston Hennigan, MoloLamken, Bartlit Beck, Wilkinson Walsh etc.)?

The only information I've been able to find is for Susman Godfrey, which has a reported RPL of $1.5 million and a PPEP of $2.5 million. I'd guess that puts junior partners at something like $0.8-1.2 million and rainmakers at $5-10 million, but that's just my guess. I don't know if other boutiques are more or less profitable given their size.

Beyond the problem others have pointed out (leverage, black box), I think boutiques are much more lumpy than biglaw. One personality, founder, or stream of business is just way more important if it's like 20% of the firm's revenue.
MoloLamken: I believe Molo and Lamken are the only equity partners there. I imagine they make astounding amounts of money, and everyone else does well enough that they don't leave (probably pretty good!).
Susman Godfrey: I think the 2.5 number is BS (that's what people at the firm tend to say--they don't disclose their numbers). That said, SG has a fairly well-known formula that's a sub-million base (I think around 500k-ish?) and eat-what-you-kill for the rest. Many partners make amazing amounts, but some partners make their million-or-two and take long vacations between trials. That's a pretty cool option.
Bartlit Beck: They have a massive number of equity partners, and mostly do defense-side (read: no jackpots like QE or Boies). I'd think they're around W&C levels.
Wilkinson Stekloff: I don't know for sure what people make, but it's a firm that is famed for the first-chair trial experience of a handful of people, so I imagine it's going to be hard for new partners to build business that could justify making lots of money.

[Anonymous User]

Reading the V50 first-year equity partner thread inspired me to start a similar question about boutiques. Does anyone have inside info (or even educated guesses) about partner compensation at the elite litigation boutiques (Susman Godfrey, Kellogg Hansen, Hueston Hennigan, MoloLamken, Bartlit Beck, Wilkinson Walsh etc.)?

The only information I've been able to find is for Susman Godfrey, which has a reported RPL of $1.5 million and a PPEP of $2.5 million. I'd guess that puts junior partners at something like $0.8-1.2 million and rainmakers at $5-10 million, but that's just my guess. I don't know if other boutiques are more or less profitable given their size.

Beyond the problem others have pointed out (leverage, black box), I think boutiques are much more lumpy than biglaw. One personality, founder, or stream of business is just way more important if it's like 20% of the firm's revenue.
MoloLamken: I believe Molo and Lamken are the only equity partners there. I imagine they make astounding amounts of money, and everyone else does well enough that they don't leave (probably pretty good!).
Susman Godfrey: I think the 2.5 number is BS (that's what people at the firm tend to say--they don't disclose their numbers). That said, SG has a fairly well-known formula that's a sub-million base (I think around 500k-ish?) and eat-what-you-kill for the rest. Many partners make amazing amounts, but some partners make their million-or-two and take long vacations between trials. That's a pretty cool option.
Bartlit Beck: They have a massive number of equity partners, and mostly do defense-side (read: no jackpots like QE or Boies). I'd think they're around W&C levels.
Wilkinson Stekloff: I don't know for sure what people make, but it's a firm that is famed for the first-chair trial experience of a handful of people, so I imagine it's going to be hard for new partners to build business that could justify making lots of money.

Current SG associate (hence the anon). The information above is half-correct. There is no base; rather, if you work on somebody else's case (i.e. one where you don't have a piece of the earnings) then you receive a portion of your hourly rate for each hour billed. The balance of partner comp is eat-what-you-kill.

[Anonymous User]

Reading the V50 first-year equity partner thread inspired me to start a similar question about boutiques. Does anyone have inside info (or even educated guesses) about partner compensation at the elite litigation boutiques (Susman Godfrey, Kellogg Hansen, Hueston Hennigan, MoloLamken, Bartlit Beck, Wilkinson Walsh etc.)?

The only information I've been able to find is for Susman Godfrey, which has a reported RPL of $1.5 million and a PPEP of $2.5 million. I'd guess that puts junior partners at something like $0.8-1.2 million and rainmakers at $5-10 million, but that's just my guess. I don't know if other boutiques are more or less profitable given their size.

Beyond the problem others have pointed out (leverage, black box), I think boutiques are much more lumpy than biglaw. One personality, founder, or stream of business is just way more important if it's like 20% of the firm's revenue.
MoloLamken: I believe Molo and Lamken are the only equity partners there. I imagine they make astounding amounts of money, and everyone else does well enough that they don't leave (probably pretty good!).
Susman Godfrey: I think the 2.5 number is BS (that's what people at the firm tend to say--they don't disclose their numbers). That said, SG has a fairly well-known formula that's a sub-million base (I think around 500k-ish?) and eat-what-you-kill for the rest. Many partners make amazing amounts, but some partners make their million-or-two and take long vacations between trials. That's a pretty cool option.
Bartlit Beck: They have a massive number of equity partners, and mostly do defense-side (read: no jackpots like QE or Boies). I'd think they're around W&C levels.
Wilkinson Stekloff: I don't know for sure what people make, but it's a firm that is famed for the first-chair trial experience of a handful of people, so I imagine it's going to be hard for new partners to build business that could justify making lots of money.

Current SG associate (hence the anon). The information above is half-correct. There is no base; rather, if you work on somebody else's case (i.e. one where you don't have a piece of the earnings) then you receive a portion of your hourly rate for each hour billed. The balance of partner comp is eat-what-you-kill.

Thanks to everyone for the helpful posts. Is it also your understanding that the $2.5 million PPEP number is inaccurate? If so, do you know where Law.com and the Houston Chronicle are getting their numbers from?

[Anonymous User]

Reading the V50 first-year equity partner thread inspired me to start a similar question about boutiques. Does anyone have inside info (or even educated guesses) about partner compensation at the elite litigation boutiques (Susman Godfrey, Kellogg Hansen, Hueston Hennigan, MoloLamken, Bartlit Beck, Wilkinson Walsh etc.)?

The only information I've been able to find is for Susman Godfrey, which has a reported RPL of $1.5 million and a PPEP of $2.5 million. I'd guess that puts junior partners at something like $0.8-1.2 million and rainmakers at $5-10 million, but that's just my guess. I don't know if other boutiques are more or less profitable given their size.

Beyond the problem others have pointed out (leverage, black box), I think boutiques are much more lumpy than biglaw. One personality, founder, or stream of business is just way more important if it's like 20% of the firm's revenue.
MoloLamken: I believe Molo and Lamken are the only equity partners there. I imagine they make astounding amounts of money, and everyone else does well enough that they don't leave (probably pretty good!).
Susman Godfrey: I think the 2.5 number is BS (that's what people at the firm tend to say--they don't disclose their numbers). That said, SG has a fairly well-known formula that's a sub-million base (I think around 500k-ish?) and eat-what-you-kill for the rest. Many partners make amazing amounts, but some partners make their million-or-two and take long vacations between trials. That's a pretty cool option.
Bartlit Beck: They have a massive number of equity partners, and mostly do defense-side (read: no jackpots like QE or Boies). I'd think they're around W&C levels.
Wilkinson Stekloff: I don't know for sure what people make, but it's a firm that is famed for the first-chair trial experience of a handful of people, so I imagine it's going to be hard for new partners to build business that could justify making lots of money.

Current SG associate (hence the anon). The information above is half-correct. There is no base; rather, if you work on somebody else's case (i.e. one where you don't have a piece of the earnings) then you receive a portion of your hourly rate for each hour billed. The balance of partner comp is eat-what-you-kill.

Thanks to everyone for the helpful posts. Is it also your understanding that the $2.5 million PPEP number is inaccurate? If so, do you know where Law.com and the Houston Chronicle are getting their numbers from?

Why doesn't everyone join Susman? Seems like the dream.

[Anonymous User]

Reading the V50 first-year equity partner thread inspired me to start a similar question about boutiques. Does anyone have inside info (or even educated guesses) about partner compensation at the elite litigation boutiques (Susman Godfrey, Kellogg Hansen, Hueston Hennigan, MoloLamken, Bartlit Beck, Wilkinson Walsh etc.)?

The only information I've been able to find is for Susman Godfrey, which has a reported RPL of $1.5 million and a PPEP of $2.5 million. I'd guess that puts junior partners at something like $0.8-1.2 million and rainmakers at $5-10 million, but that's just my guess. I don't know if other boutiques are more or less profitable given their size.

Beyond the problem others have pointed out (leverage, black box), I think boutiques are much more lumpy than biglaw. One personality, founder, or stream of business is just way more important if it's like 20% of the firm's revenue.
MoloLamken: I believe Molo and Lamken are the only equity partners there. I imagine they make astounding amounts of money, and everyone else does well enough that they don't leave (probably pretty good!).
Susman Godfrey: I think the 2.5 number is BS (that's what people at the firm tend to say--they don't disclose their numbers). That said, SG has a fairly well-known formula that's a sub-million base (I think around 500k-ish?) and eat-what-you-kill for the rest. Many partners make amazing amounts, but some partners make their million-or-two and take long vacations between trials. That's a pretty cool option.
Bartlit Beck: They have a massive number of equity partners, and mostly do defense-side (read: no jackpots like QE or Boies). I'd think they're around W&C levels.
Wilkinson Stekloff: I don't know for sure what people make, but it's a firm that is famed for the first-chair trial experience of a handful of people, so I imagine it's going to be hard for new partners to build business that could justify making lots of money.

Current SG associate (hence the anon). The information above is half-correct. There is no base; rather, if you work on somebody else's case (i.e. one where you don't have a piece of the earnings) then you receive a portion of your hourly rate for each hour billed. The balance of partner comp is eat-what-you-kill.

Thanks to everyone for the helpful posts. Is it also your understanding that the $2.5 million PPEP number is inaccurate? If so, do you know where Law.com and the Houston Chronicle are getting their numbers from?

Why doesn't everyone join Susman? Seems like the dream.

I think associates work very long hours (perhaps approaching 3000 yearly hours) in exchange for a high chance at making partner. Whether or not that's worth it may depend on just how valuable Susman partnership is vs. gunning at a V50 biglaw.

[Anonymous User]

Reading the V50 first-year equity partner thread inspired me to start a similar question about boutiques. Does anyone have inside info (or even educated guesses) about partner compensation at the elite litigation boutiques (Susman Godfrey, Kellogg Hansen, Hueston Hennigan, MoloLamken, Bartlit Beck, Wilkinson Walsh etc.)?

The only information I've been able to find is for Susman Godfrey, which has a reported RPL of $1.5 million and a PPEP of $2.5 million. I'd guess that puts junior partners at something like $0.8-1.2 million and rainmakers at $5-10 million, but that's just my guess. I don't know if other boutiques are more or less profitable given their size.

Beyond the problem others have pointed out (leverage, black box), I think boutiques are much more lumpy than biglaw. One personality, founder, or stream of business is just way more important if it's like 20% of the firm's revenue.
MoloLamken: I believe Molo and Lamken are the only equity partners there. I imagine they make astounding amounts of money, and everyone else does well enough that they don't leave (probably pretty good!).
Susman Godfrey: I think the 2.5 number is BS (that's what people at the firm tend to say--they don't disclose their numbers). That said, SG has a fairly well-known formula that's a sub-million base (I think around 500k-ish?) and eat-what-you-kill for the rest. Many partners make amazing amounts, but some partners make their million-or-two and take long vacations between trials. That's a pretty cool option.
Bartlit Beck: They have a massive number of equity partners, and mostly do defense-side (read: no jackpots like QE or Boies). I'd think they're around W&C levels.
Wilkinson Stekloff: I don't know for sure what people make, but it's a firm that is famed for the first-chair trial experience of a handful of people, so I imagine it's going to be hard for new partners to build business that could justify making lots of money.

Current SG associate (hence the anon). The information above is half-correct. There is no base; rather, if you work on somebody else's case (i.e. one where you don't have a piece of the earnings) then you receive a portion of your hourly rate for each hour billed. The balance of partner comp is eat-what-you-kill.

Thanks to everyone for the helpful posts. Is it also your understanding that the $2.5 million PPEP number is inaccurate? If so, do you know where Law.com and the Houston Chronicle are getting their numbers from?

Same anon SG associate. I don't know where they get the numbers, but my understanding is that they are indeed inaccurate. And at least for SG, its difficult to speak generically about PPP because it can change from year-to-year given the skew of our practice towards contingent-fee cases.