Law firms risk all by emphasis on profits per partners, says professor

One of the many challenges facing the legal profession is 'death from above' through the drive to maximise partner profits, according to University of Tennessee law professor Benjamin Barton.

In his new book, 'Glass Half Full: The Decline and Rebirth of the Legal Profession', he draws attention to dramatic changes in the ratio of associates to partners. This was 1.45 30 years ago. In 2012, the average ratio was 4.5 but, by then, the most leveraged BigLaw firm had reached a ratio of 10.7.

Destroying the culture

Professor Barton's view is that an ethos of maximising partner profits is destroying the culture of law firms. Associates lawyers end up working long hours and becoming unhappy. Source: Bloomberg Business of Law