Retiring MP Shunned ‘Eat What You Kill’ Rewards
Indiana lawyer Alan Shovers is proud that the law firm he managed for 30 years never adopted an “eat what you kill” compensation system.
Shovers, 70, is managing partner of the 28-lawyer Evansville law firm Kahn, Dees, Donovan & Kahn. He told the Evansville Courier & Press that there are too many drawbacks to rewarding partners based on the amount of client money they bring in.
Such a system encourages lawyers to hang on to their clients and to fear asking others for help. “You don’t let loose of things until you are way over your head,” he said.
Eat-what-you-kill systems are also difficult to manage, he told the newspaper. “I saw other managers who were struggling with dividing the pie and the enormous time they spent with management,” he said. “I always realized what a great arrangement we have at our firm.”
Shovers shared management duties with lawyer Thomas Magan until he retired last year. Shovers retires from his management job in January. He plans to continue practicing law and will pursue his hobby as president of a club for Steuben Glass collectors.
