Vinstdelning
En studie i hur affärsjuridiska advokatbyråers vinstdelningssystem är uppbyggda och hur valet av vinstdelningssystem påverkar organisationen.
In the last couple of decades, corporate law firms have rapidly grown to become both influential and highly profitable corporations in the business world. Today, the largest law firms are assumed to bear far greater resemblance to large and often multinational public limited companies than the small businesses generally associated with legal services. However, one interesting specific set them apart from the majority of other companies; the partnership and its interrelated profit sharing. The aim of this study has therefore been to investigate partner compensation systems in corporate law firms and further examine what implications chosen compensation systems have on the organizations. Using a multiple case study, including 7 of Scandinavia?s largest and most well known law firms, the results show that partner compensation systems are highly individual and the critical question is whether to employ seniority based or performance based compensation systems. A seniority based partner compensation system is found to be predictable, unifying and encourages developing the firm. However, it has to deal with shirkers and leavers in order to remain highly profitable which is found to be a necessity for survival of the system. A performance based compensation system on the other hand is found to be riskier, encourages and retains high performing partners and appears to facilitate rapid establishment of successful new firms. However, performance based systems have to successfully manage vertical and horizontal delegation, encourage partners to invest time in non billable activities and find ways to effectively evaluate partner performance with respect to both subjective and objective criteria.