w w w . C A N A D I A N L a w y e r m a g . c o m J U L Y 2 0 1 5 39
and churn the work out any more," says
Heller. "Firms ideally want to see an
associate who can work hard, and has
the technical ability, but also one who
can generate work for the firm. Those
are the ones that are going to be consid-
ered for partnership."
At smaller firms, revenue generation
has long been incentivized with com-
missions on work brought in, and the
survey showed 39 per cent of respon-
dents offered some sort of commis-
sion to associates, up from 26 per cent
last year. The value of the commission
varied between 10 and 50 per cent,
depending on the firm.
Heller says the legal market overall
feels cautiously optimistic in Canada:
"It's not booming by any means, but
things are picking up and confidence is
starting to grow," she says.
Up to $50,000
$51,000-$100,000
$101,000-$150,000
$151,000-$200,000
$201,000-$250,000
$251,000-$300,000
$301,000-$350,000
$351,000-$400,000
$401,000-$450,000
$451,000-$500,000
$501,000-$550,000
$551,000-$600,000
More than $600,000
15.6%
18.7%
9%
10.1%
13.2%
8.8%
6%
8.7%
3.9%
3.6%
0.2%
0.2%
2%
What compensation
method does
your fi rm use for
equity partners?
Sample Size 35 fi rms
Sample Size 43
83.7
%
No
Partner
compensation
(National)
Sample Size: 45 fi rms
16.3
%
Yes
Does your fi rm have a two-tier
partnership structure?
No
Yes
40
%
Eat what you kill
Other
Merit
Equal partnership
Lock-step
Simple unit
50-50 Subjective/
Objective
Modified Hale
and Dorr
20
%
14.3
%
11.4
%
2.9
%
2.9
%
2.9
%
5.7
%
Did partner earnings
increase in the last
year?
Sample Size: 45 fi rms
44.4%
55.6%
