Gestión del despacho

4 de Julio de 2008
EL RINCÓN DE HILDEBRANDT

Follow the Money, by Blane R. Prescott

Hay pocos temas en los despachos de abogados que generan interés o debate, que forman la cultura de la empresa y su éxito a largo plazo y que influyen en el comportamiento de los socios, como Compensación. Y si muchos socios argumentarían que el sistema de compensación no es más que un pequeño componente de su empresa, a menudo es cierto que uno simplemente tiene que "seguir el dinero" para entender mejor las raíces del éxito o del fracaso en un bufete de abogados.

El siguiente artículo analiza algunas de las cuestiones más fundamentales de la Compensación y se describen los cuatro sistemas más comunes a medida que se han desarrollado entre las empresas en los últimos cincuenta años.

(This article utilizes the terms “partner” and “partnership,” yet the underlying concepts are equally applicable to lawyers operating as shareholders in professional corporations.)

Before describing any systems and their virtues, it is first helpful to explore some of the fundamentals of partner compensation. This will help the reader to understand and evaluate their own compensation process, and any potential problems, before seeking a solution or a new system.

SEARCHING FOR THE PERFECT COMPENSATION PLAN
While the setting of partner compensation is often thought of in mechanical terms, and the process and mathematical results are given tremendous scrutiny, the real test of a compensation system is what happens after the process and results are announced. Because those results directly impact and involve human beings, a wild card element is introduced that is hard to predict. As so often happens when some measure of value is assigned to a human being and his/her performance, the results expose and test an individual’s feelings of self worth, their perceptions of acknowledged appreciation from others, and other highly sensitive human emotions such as ego, motivation, and greed. So no matter how well a compensation setting process may work once, and regardless of the effort to duplicate the process in later years, there is no assurance that the results will be as successful over time because of this human component. It is not surprising, therefore, that so many firms struggle with partner compensation. Almost all systems produce disappointing results at some time, so most firms are always on the lookout for ways to improve the process, to discover another system that is better or easier, or one which prompts fewer negative reactions among partners. The desire for a better system is therefore both natural and understandable, yet many firms would be well served to understand this simple rule of thumb: There is no such thing as a perfect partner compensation system, and just because the one being used occasionally fails, it may be closer to perfect than one might realize.

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Blane R. Prescott Mr. Prescott works with law firms (as well as investment banks and venture capital firms) throughout the United States, Canada, Asia and Europe. He has worked with more than 1,000 law firms, helping them with strategy, management issues, merger negotiations and assessments, compensation and practice management. Mr. Prescott was a Partner and a member of the Executive Committee of Hildebrandt International for 12 years before becoming Managing Director of Latham & Watkins, a 1,500-lawyer international law firm. He rejoined Hildebrandt International 2002 and is based in the San Francisco office. E-mail: brprescott@hildebrandt.com Teléfono: +1 (415) 956.91 91