Altman Weil Launches New Blog on Lawyer Compensation

Newtown Square, PA, October 17, 2007 — Altman Weil, Inc., management consultants to the legal profession, today launched a new blog on lawyer compensation and law firm finance.  Cotterman on Compensation will be authored by Altman Weil principal James D. Cotterman, the leading expert on lawyer compensation in the United States.

“Compensation has always been an important and controversial issue in law firms,” said Mr. Cotterman.  “But in the last few years, as the war for talent has heated up, compensation has taken on strategic importance as a tool to retain key lawyers, attract talented laterals and compete for top law school graduates.”

Cotterman on Compensation will discuss all levels of law firm lawyer compensation, from associates to service partners, to rainmakers, to lawyer-managers, and senior lawyers who are phasing down in preparation for retirement.  It will comment on external market forces as well as the complex internal issues of system design, productivity, and motivation.  It will draw on Altman Weil’s extensive survey databases as a source of compensation trends and benchmarks.

The blog will also address key issues of law firm finance including capital structure, profitability, buy-in and withdrawal, retirement and succession strategies, and turnarounds.

Readers will find Cotterman on Compensation online at http://blog.altmanweil.com.
     
For 20 years, Jim Cotterman has advised law firms on compensation system design, capital structure and other economic issues.  He is the lead author of the definitive book on law firm compensation, ABA’s Compensation Plans for Law Firms.  He has been the supervising author for Matthew Bender’s loose-leaf text How To Manage Your Law Office and is currently a member of the Board of Editors of American Lawyer Media’s newsletter Accounting and Financial Planning for Law Firms.

Founded in 1970, Altman Weil, Inc. is dedicated exclusively to the legal profession.  It provides management consulting services to law firms, law departments and government legal organizations worldwide.  Altman Weil Publications, a division of Altman Weil, publishes a series of surveys on the legal profession, including Compensation Systems in Private Law Firms and the Survey of Law Firm Economics.  More information on Altman Weil can be found at www.altmanweil.com.

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