A recent article published in the Law Firm Partnership & Benefits Report contains a provocative criticism of the rainmaker star approach that many law firms espouse, or at least implicitly accept.
The article, written by Richard Upton, a management consultant who has served as the Chief Marketing Officer at two AmLaw 50 law firms and has consulted with many others, includes some first-rate suggestions about how to ensure that valuable clients can be institutionalized, such as identifying and expanding the points of contacts.
At the same time, however, language referring to rainmakers as “hostage-takers” is a bit troubling. No doubt, there are rainmakers who act in this matter, but it would be an oversimplification to generalize about the motivations of these partners. In fact, many of the rainmakers we talk to are among the most loyal partners in their firms, and are often involved in leadership. At the other side of the spectrum, we have spoken to countless partners who have done “the right thing” by bringing in clients and then sharing them with partners only to find themselves stuck because their portables are low.
As long as the prevailing approach by law firms is to value portable business over virtually any other factor in their consideration of lateral partners, it’s only natural that rainmakers will act to protect “their” client relationships. In other words, having clients that one can take with them is a type of insurance in case a move elsewhere ever becomes imperative. Partners often have very understandable reasons to leave their firms that have nothing to do with immediate income, such as conflicts, change in firm strategy, or even the threat of dissolution.
As Upton suggests, firms need to continue with efforts to strengthen and broaden client relationships (and not just for preventing defections by rainmakers). But firms also have to recognize the reality of today’s lateral market when they find that some of these partners aren’t fully cooperating.
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