Powering up rainmakers
by Eric Young
Sunday, April 4, 2010
Gerry Hinkley became co-chair of Pillsbury Winthrop’s health group when he moved over from Davis Wright Tremaine.
Amid growing pressure to recruit top-tier attorneys, law firms are adding another incentive along with pay and resources: power.
Some “rainmakers” — a term for law firm partners who regularly bill at least $2 million each year — are being offered positions of power within law firms as part of a deal to lure them from their current firm. The most desired lawyers might be invited to join a firm’s executive committee, which is a main policy-setting body, or might be given a leadership position over a group of attorneys in a practice area.
The titles are not just honorifics. Becoming chair of a practice group, for example, gives that lawyer wide latitude to decide who staffs cases, who gets promoted and what other attorneys should be recruiting targets.
When Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP landed noted health care lawyer Gerry Hinkley last January from Davis Wright Tremaine LLP, he became co-chair of Pillsbury’s 37-lawyer health industry group.
Along with other factors, Hinkley said he was intrigued by the chance to have a hand in shaping firm policy and shaping the firm’s health industry work. “I wanted an opportunity to participate in establishing the health care practice on the West Coast” along with a fellow co-chair on the East Coast, said Hinkley.
Coming to a new firm and being given a leadership position is still rare, reserved for only those most highly touted recruits.
But firms are wing ...
Amid growing pressure to recruit top-tier attorneys, law firms are adding another incentive along with pay and resources: power.
Some “rainmakers” — a term for law firm partners who regularly bill at least $2 million each year — are being offered positions of power within law firms as part of a deal to lure them from their current firm. The most desired lawyers might be invited to join a firm’s executive committee, which is a main policy-setting body, or might be given a leadership position over a group of attorneys in a practice area.
The titles are not just honorifics. Becoming chair of a practice group, for example, gives that lawyer wide latitude to decide who staffs cases, who gets promoted and what other attorneys should be recruiting targets.
When Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP landed noted health care lawyer Gerry Hinkley last January from Davis Wright Tremaine LLP, he became co-chair of Pillsbury’s 37-lawyer health industry group.
Along with other factors, Hinkley said he was intrigued by the chance to have a hand in shaping firm policy and shaping the firm’s health industry work. “I wanted an opportunity to participate in establishing the health care practice on the West Coast” along with a fellow co-chair on the East Coast, said Hinkley.
Coming to a new firm and being given a leadership position is still rare, reserved for only those most highly touted recruits.
But firms are willing to do it because the need to grow revenue is acute. The amount that companies are spending on law firms is in decline. And law firms cannot push through annual price increases like they did before the Great Recession.
So one of the best ways to grow revenue is to steal business from rivals by bringing on board other firms’ most highly coveted partners.
Some recent examples include Kaye Scholer LLP’s successful recruitment of heavy-hitting intellectual property attorney William Coats from White & Case LLP. Coats was named managing partner of the new Silicon Valley office with much latitude to grow the new location.
When Richard Climan was lured last year to the East Palo Alto office of Dewey & LeBoeuf LLP from Cooley Godward Kronish LLP, he was placed on Dewey’s executive committee, which helps give direction to the 1,200-attorney firm.
Next week technology attorney Anthony McCusker will join Goodwin Procter LLP’s Menlo Park office from Gunderson Dettmer Stough Villeneuve Franklin & Hachigian LLP. McCusker will be one of two leaders of the 120-lawyer technology group.
In the Bay Area’s competitive legal market, recruiters said firms are including power positions to pry loose desired talent.
“Leadership opportunities, where the candidate has the chance to direct the practice … can absolutely be a carrot,” said Avis Caravello, a recruiter who worked on Hinkley’s move.