Follow the Money - Downright Un-American to Sit Out Job Offer from Big Law as The Good Times Roll

 According to Wells Fargo, Roy Strom reports in Bloomberg Law, during the first half of this year, Big Law rates surged 9.2% and net income 14.5%. 

Obviously, the good times are rolling. And they have accelerated the poaching of talent. That means the challenge for smaller law firms is to hold on to their star partners. The leadership of those businesses can't match the compensation that large law firms will offer. 

Unlike so many sectors such as advertising and accounting in this Generative AI era, humans remain the key asset in practicing law. Note that in the coverage of the law firms guiding the Kraft-Heinz split, the names of the partners at Paul, Weiss and Skadden were cited:

"Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison’s team includes partners Stan Richards and Jeffrey D. Marell, the global co-head of the firm’s mergers and acquisitions practice.

"Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom’s team includes New York based M&A partners Brandon Van Dyke and Kyle Hatton, as well as tax partner David Rievman and banking partner Janine Jjingo"

In America it would be bizarre to turn down those kinds of offers which contain a significant compensation bump. 

See, the American brand of capitalism operates on individualism and risk-taking. Your accountability is to yourself, not the organization. And, sure, changing jobs is a risk. But the assumption is that you'll later kick yourself for not taking it when you read that Profit Per Equity Partner in 2024, for example, at Paul, Weiss was $7.5 million and at Skadden $6.049 million.

This isn't new. When I worked full-time in corporate you paid attention to the headhunters contacting you about another corporation interested in you. Enough to pay more. Actually, the game was to develop relationships with executive search firms. A sign that your brand was fading was that they stopped paying attention to you.

What is new is that in a growing number of sectors knowledge workers are without the option to move on to better deals. Their focus is to hold on to what they got. The threats to even having a career path in, say, advertising, are cost-efficiency and Generative AI. 

Okay, there will always be a need for "Mad Men." But the number needed is being significantly reduced. The consensus of 99 comments on a Reddit post about talent demand in advertising is that many functions will be overtaken by Gen AI, with just a few Mad Men overseeing strategy, handling logistics and doing quality control. Meanwhile, there are tips on what AI tools to become expert at to buy time for yourself while figuring out your career pivot.

Those in high demand such as rainmakers in law firms got there because they knew what counts to get where they are. So, many will be alert enough to size up when the time has passed for them to participate in partnerships at large law firms. Almost 30% of firms anticipate conducting de-equitizations. That is, those equity partners no longer earning their keep will be bumped down from being a shareholder or forced out totally. 

In coaching in the past and especially in coaching now I hammer: Never get too comfortable. Meanwhile, avoid lifestyle creep, creating your own piece of wealth. Three years ago I pivoted from primarily singing for my supper in content-creation to intuitive coaching and psychic readings. I had the financial reserve to fund the transition. That was because I lived below my income.

Thrown off your game, maybe the first time since you started working? You made all the right moves and then the world moved in another direction.

Intuitive Coaching. Special expertise with transitions, reskilling and aging. Psychic/tarot readings, upon request. Complimentary consultation with Jane Genova (Text 203-468-8579, janegenova374@gmail.com). Yes, test out the chemistry. There’s no risk.