Uploaded September 2022 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
BOOK REVIEW
THE PARTNER REMUNERATION HANDBOOK
A Guide to Compensation in Law and other Professional Service Firms
Michael Roch and Ray D’Cruz
ISBN 978 1 78742 848 5
Globe Law and Business
globelawandbusiness.com
‘EAT WHAT YOU KILL’: A THOUGHT PROVOKING AND AUTHORITATIVE NEW HANDBOOK OFFERING UNIQUE AND INFORMED PERSPECTIVES ON PARTNER REMUNERATION
An appreciation by Elizabeth Robson Taylor MA of Richmond Green Chambers and Phillip Taylor MBE, Head of Chambers, Reviews Editor, “The Barrister”, and Mediator
This eminently readable and informative new title from publishers Globe Law and Business reminds us of a brief encounter, you might say, of a colleague of ours -- a senior partner at a large law firm -- who was accosted at Waterloo Station by an eager young woman with a clipboard.
‘What sex is your partner?’ she asked. ‘I have fifty partners,’ was his answer, ‘and they’re all male.’ Still clutching her clipboard, eager clipboard clutcher beat a hasty retreat.
Well, that was in the old days -- before covid. But in the here and now -- particularly post-covid -- a few changes, some subtle, some not -- have emerged in what the authors of this Handbook refer to as partnership ethos and culture. And most importantly of course, remuneration.
As authors Michael Roch and Ray D’Cruz have reminded us, ‘the world of law firm remuneration is full of surprises.’ That of course is an amiable and well-informed understatement based on of some twenty years’ experience involving intensive analysis of remuneration issues across a wide spectrum of partnerships, from law firms certainly, to accountancy and technology partnerships and many more. Their common denominator of course is money -- specifically remuneration -- which, depending on several factors, can either encourage and motivate, or de-motivate and deter.
‘Partner compensation’, as the authors point out, ‘has the potential to make a difference on how well a partnership competes... how partnership results are evaluated and rewarded... and how the firm’s partner compensation system can serve as a means to compete against other firms.’ Successful partnerships are resilient, say the authors, ever alert to changes in national and international business landscapes and ever sensitive to the need to ‘adapt and prosper.’
The book is divided into seven parts, all of which provide lucid, informed and certainly topical advice on varied and often complex remuneration issues, while at the same time revealing the book’s global orientation -- with its very useful perspectives in this current post-covid era.
Recognising that each partnership (particularly a law firm) is a unique entity in itself, the book offers what is fundamentally a pragmatic and flexible approach to the often complex and sometimes delicate issues involved in building workable, practicable and adaptable policies toward partner remuneration.
Check out, for example, the pros and cons of three basic systems of profit allocation, namely: cost sharing... fixed allocation… and ‘eat what you kill!’ Now there’s a thought.
If you are involved either directly or indirectly with law firm management, this brilliant, detailed and rather fascinating new Handbook should serve you well.
The publication date of this hardback edition is cited as at 16th August 2022.
BOOK REVIEW
THE PARTNER REMUNERATION HANDBOOK
A Guide to Compensation in Law and other Professional Service Firms
Michael Roch and Ray D’Cruz
ISBN 978 1 78742 848 5
Globe Law and Business
globelawandbusiness.com
‘EAT WHAT YOU KILL’: A THOUGHT PROVOKING AND AUTHORITATIVE NEW HANDBOOK OFFERING UNIQUE AND INFORMED PERSPECTIVES ON PARTNER REMUNERATION
An appreciation by Elizabeth Robson Taylor MA of Richmond Green Chambers and Phillip Taylor MBE, Head of Chambers, Reviews Editor, “The Barrister”, and Mediator
This eminently readable and informative new title from publishers Globe Law and Business reminds us of a brief encounter, you might say, of a colleague of ours -- a senior partner at a large law firm -- who was accosted at Waterloo Station by an eager young woman with a clipboard.
‘What sex is your partner?’ she asked. ‘I have fifty partners,’ was his answer, ‘and they’re all male.’ Still clutching her clipboard, eager clipboard clutcher beat a hasty retreat.
Well, that was in the old days -- before covid. But in the here and now -- particularly post-covid -- a few changes, some subtle, some not -- have emerged in what the authors of this Handbook refer to as partnership ethos and culture. And most importantly of course, remuneration.
As authors Michael Roch and Ray D’Cruz have reminded us, ‘the world of law firm remuneration is full of surprises.’ That of course is an amiable and well-informed understatement based on of some twenty years’ experience involving intensive analysis of remuneration issues across a wide spectrum of partnerships, from law firms certainly, to accountancy and technology partnerships and many more. Their common denominator of course is money -- specifically remuneration -- which, depending on several factors, can either encourage and motivate, or de-motivate and deter.
‘Partner compensation’, as the authors point out, ‘has the potential to make a difference on how well a partnership competes... how partnership results are evaluated and rewarded... and how the firm’s partner compensation system can serve as a means to compete against other firms.’ Successful partnerships are resilient, say the authors, ever alert to changes in national and international business landscapes and ever sensitive to the need to ‘adapt and prosper.’
The book is divided into seven parts, all of which provide lucid, informed and certainly topical advice on varied and often complex remuneration issues, while at the same time revealing the book’s global orientation -- with its very useful perspectives in this current post-covid era.
Recognising that each partnership (particularly a law firm) is a unique entity in itself, the book offers what is fundamentally a pragmatic and flexible approach to the often complex and sometimes delicate issues involved in building workable, practicable and adaptable policies toward partner remuneration.
Check out, for example, the pros and cons of three basic systems of profit allocation, namely: cost sharing... fixed allocation… and ‘eat what you kill!’ Now there’s a thought.
If you are involved either directly or indirectly with law firm management, this brilliant, detailed and rather fascinating new Handbook should serve you well.
The publication date of this hardback edition is cited as at 16th August 2022.
