In Era of 'Superstar Megarainmaker,' Law Firms Show Top Partners the Money to Lure Them Elsewhere
A decade ago, a top business producer at a major law firm might earn five times what the average partner was paid.
Today, a heavy hitter might make 10 times as much, as law firms open their checkbooks to pay top partners top dollar, especially when they are part of lucrative practice teams, the DealBook blog of the New York Times reports.
Among the examples for-instanced in the article are litigator James Wareham, a former Paul Hastings Janofsky & Walker partner who now makes over $5 million annually at DLA Piper.
Meanwhile, Irving Picard, the trustee in the Bernard Madoff bankruptcy, and chief counsel David Sheehan reportedly agreed to stay at Baker Hostetler when their firm upped the ante in response to a lucrative offer from New Jersey-based Greenbaum Rowe Smith & Davis.
“We have entered the era of the superstar megarainmaker,” legal consultant Peter Zeughauser tells the Times.
Related coverage:
ABAJournal.com: “Pay of $10M for Top Rainmaking Lawyers Creates Growing Morale Issues”
ABAJournal.com: “Trustee Picard Will Be ‘Richer Than Madoff’ Once Legal Bills are Paid, Investor Lawyer Says”
