BigLaw THE CHICAGO SERIES IN LAW AND SOCIETY Edited by John M. Conley, Charles Epp, and Lynn Mather Also in the series: Union by Law: Filipino American Labor Activists, Rights Radicalism, and Racial Capitalism by Michael W. McCann with George I. Lovell Speaking for the Dying: Life- and- Death Decisions in Intensive Care by Susan P. Shapiro Just Words, Th ird Edition: Law, Language, and Power by John M. Conley, William M. O’Barr, and Robin Conley Riner Islands of Sovereignty: Haitian Migration and the Borders of Empire by Jeff rey S. Kahn Building the Prison State: Race and the Politics of Mass Incarceration by Heather Schoenfeld Navigating Confl ict: How Youth Handle Trouble in a High- Poverty School by Calvin Morrill and Michael Musheno Th e Sit- Ins: Protest and Legal Change in the Civil Rights Era by Christopher W. Schmidt Working Law: Courts, Corporations, and Symbolic Civil Rights by Lauren B. Edelman Additional series titles follow index B i g L aw Money and Meaning in the Modern Law Firm Mitt Regan Lisa H. Rohrer The University of Chicago Press Chicago and London Th e University of Chicago Press, Chicago 60637 Th e University of Chicago Press, Ltd., London © 2021 by Th e University of Chicago All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without writt en permission, except in the case of brief quotations in criti- cal articles and reviews. For more information, contact the University of Chicago Press, 1427 E. 60th St., Chicago, IL 60637. Published 2021 Printed in the United States of America 29 28 27 26 25 24 23 22 21 20 1 2 3 4 5 ISBN-1 3: 978- 0- 226- 74194- 9 (cloth) ISBN- 13: 978- 0- 226- 74213- 7 (paper) ISBN- 13: 978- 0- 226- 74227-4 (e-b ook) DOI: htt ps:// doi .org/ 10 .7208/c hicago/ 9780226742274 .001 .0001 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Regan, Milton C., Jr., 1952– author. | Rohrer, Lisa H., author. Title: BigLaw : money and meaning in the modern law fi rm / Mitt Regan, Lisa H. Rohrer. Other titles: Money and meaning in the modern law fi rm | Chicago series in law and society. Description: Chicago ; London : Th e University of Chicago Press, 2020. | Series: Chicago series in law and society | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifi ers: LCCN 2020037909 | ISBN 9780226741949 (cloth) | ISBN 9780226742137 (paperback) | ISBN 9780226742274 (ebook) Subjects: LCSH: Law fi rms—United States. | Practice of law—United States. Classifi cation: LCC KF300 .R44 2020 | DDC 338.4/73400973—dc23 LC record available at htt ps://lccn.loc.gov/2020037909 Th is paper meets the requirements of ANSI/NISO Z39.48- 1992 (Permanence of Paper). MR: to Nancy; to Rebecca, Ben, and Bryan, and to Liam and Dash; and to the memory of Sylvia Leopold LHR: to J.J., Gavin, and Maddie Rohrer; and to Bill and Jan Haueisen CONTENTS Introduction: BigLaw 1 1 Business and Profession: Bridging the Divide 16 2 Clients in the Driver’s Seat 33 3 Encouraging Entrepreneurs 54 4 Entrepreneurs and Collaboration 77 5 Pruning for Productivity 96 6 The Material Economy of Compensation 121 7 The Symbolic Economy of Compensation 146 8 Luring Laterals 178 9 Trusted Advisors and Service Providers 200 Conclusion: Money and Meaning in the Modern Law Firm 232 Appendix on the Research Project 247 Acknowledgments 249 Notes 252 References 253 Index 267 vii Introduction BigLaw Law fi rm practice is not what it used to be. Th e signifi cant changes over the last few decades are refl ected in the following statements by two lawyers in the same fi rm. Th e fi rst partner refl ected on his experience as he entered law practice in the mid- 1980s: I remember going to see [a late former partner] who was then the managing partner and saying, “I’m doing some accountants’ liability work, I’m running around the country trying cases with [a partner] on the criminal side, I’m writing a Supreme Court cert petition, should I narrow my focus and try to do something that will help generate clients?” He said, “Don’t worry about generating clients. Just be the best lawyer you can be, serve the profession, and the clients will come to you.” (#257) A second partner who graduated from law school in the early 2000s was asked about her experience in law fi rm practice. She replied: I think I thought there was less selling in it. My mom is in sales and I was talking to her about something and she said, “Oh well you’re in sales,” and I said, “Well if I wanted to be in sales I would have been a salesperson.” . . . I don’t think you really realize that you actually get to a point where you are selling a service, you are in the service industry and you’ve got to be a salesperson. (#241) 1