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Am Law 100 Insights: Does Growth In Nonequity Partners Aid Profitability or Hinder It?

By Dan Roe
May 01, 2024

For a long time, the formula for law firm leverage was simple: grow the base of the pyramid by hiring more associates, keep them busy, and profit.

But in recent years, that arithmetic is looking more like calculus as expanding nonequity partner tiers increasingly contribute to the law firm leverage equation.

On an FTE basis, firms have added two or three times as many associates and counsel as they did nonequity partners in recent years. But last year, nonequity partner growth kicked into high gear, as the average Am Law 100 firm added 13 nonequity partners, compared to 16 associates and counsel. And on a percentage basis, the 5.3% growth of the nonequity partner tier among Am Law 100 firms more than doubled the 2.3% growth rate for non-partner attorneys (not to mention the 1% decline in equity partners).

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