Conflicts between Business and Professional Values in Law Firms Dictate Timings of Career Moves

Career growth within a law firm follows certain patterns and opportunities to attract prominence ebb and flow within an annual cycle. Albert (1995) researched on this aspect of annual cycles of law firms and their attorneys, and the finite life cycle of a firm where conflicts and opportunities wax and wane. There is a perceptible heightening in attitudes of viewing the firm as a business at the end of the fiscal year, with short tempers and partner conflicts rising during this period.

The question of dividing profits emphasizes the conflict between profession and business, but thankfully, it generally occurs once a year. At firms which plan for hiring, investments, and other projects on a multi-year basis, such conflicting periods may not happen annually. But, for a lawyer who intends to gain prominence within the law firm, it is important to watch out for timing before making demands or moves.


Associate growth and the timing of conflict between business values and professional values

Usually, associates approaching about the sixth year of practice, or approaching the juncture of considering a partnership option, begin to experience the conflict between profession and business. The focus shifts from learning and working to the priority of attracting clients. Associate turnover is high at big law firms and it's still “up or out” at most law firms. In order to make partner, associates need to attract clients and build a portfolio that makes them valuable from a business point of view, and not only from a professional point of view. The conflict between the perspectives of profession and business does not manifest itself with any degree of acuity until the associate learns to recognize the key to career success depends upon attracting clients.

The conflict of business and professional perspectives in the life of a law firm partner

As discussed earlier, annual conflicts at the closing of the fiscal year and at other times when cost-benefit analyses of investments are made, brings on the conflict between professional and business perspectives in lives of law firm partners. However, another issue of timing in the career of a partner occurs during his/her decision to leave the law firm. Partners believe in creating ‘portable' portfolios of clients, and though all partners share in the profits generated by all clients, each client is thought to “belong” to a particular partner. Usually, this is the attorney who either introduced the client to the law firm, or who has overseen most of the work of the client. It is at the time of leaving the law firm that a partner's nature of relationship with a client forces him/her to confront the conflict between business and professional perspectives.

Professional requirements ask the partner to notify the clients and discuss whether the client wants to remain with the firm. The client's interest in continuity of representation needs to be decided between the firm and the partner.

On the other hand, the partner leaving the law firm has an interest in the billings of the client and the conflict between professional and business interests manifest themselves. The decision is usually of a hybrid nature where a balance is found between the pecuniary interests of the partner, of the law firm, and that of the client.

While attorneys in any law firm experience conflict between business and professional needs of the law firm, such conflicts are mitigated by timing or other mechanism such as incentive systems. Such structured incentive and reward systems also need to be kept in mind and accessed in time by those wishing to establish their careers within a law firm.

Source:

Bertrand Moingeou, Guillaume Soenen, “Corporate and Organizational Identities: Integrating Strategy, Marketing, Communication, and Organizational Perspectives,” Routledge, 2002

Albert, S. (1995) “Towards a theory of timing: an archival study of timing decisions in the Persian Gulf War,” in L. L. Cummings and B. M. Staw (eds), Research in organizational behavior,volume 17, Greenwich, CT: JAI Press.