The Partner Remuneration Handbook: A Guide to Compensation in Law and Other Professional Service Firms

Partner compensation and how partners share profits is central to the cohesive fabric of any professional partnership. While one adage says that “there are as many profit-sharing systems as there are partnerships”, there has recently been the emergence of a global practice about what “merit” means and how risk and reward are shared among partners in professional service firms.

In The Partner Remuneration Handbook, Michael Roch and Ray D’Cruz provide guidance for senior partners, managing partners, partnership boards, remuneration committees and others involved in the partner compensation process (department heads, CFOs, HRDs), on designing effective profit-sharing systems, reaching fair reward decisions efficiently and implementing motivating contribution management processes.

Filled with practical insights, this book draws on principles of partnership, motivation and incentives in human capital management, and executive compensation in closely held businesses. Looking beyond the numbers, the authors balance the big picture with a detailed how-to for any professional partnership irrespective of geography, size and maturity.

This title encompasses three core elements:

• Exploring the different partner reward systems found in most professional firms.
• Showing how partnerships define and discuss partner contribution commitments that further the firm’s overall strategic, operational and financial objectives.
• Providing decision-making guidance about marrying reward to performance and on Remuneration Committee governance.

It also addresses a myriad of special topics, such as rewarding partners in management roles, and provides a proven approach for how firm leaders can take partners with them on the journey of evolving their partner compensation system.