MEMO

To: Law Firm Partners

From: Nermin, Esq.

Date: May 2, 2026

Re: The Service Partner

I’ve worked with law firms and partners for years and I see how the rain maker(s) is treated and how the service partner(s) is treated. Each firm I work with is different, but all of them have the same conclusion. The rain maker partner is the most important person in the firm, and everyone should do their best to accommodate the rain maker. I see it in how the comp structure is set up, the bonus structure, and even during monthly partnership meetings and the decisions that are made are usually in favor of what the rain maker partner needs.

In my experience, part of this is because the rain maker, relatively speaking, is more vocal and louder than the service partner.

More importantly, what I notice is often a misunderstanding of the service partner’s role— there is a mutually beneficial, symbiotic relationship between the rain maker and the service partner.

I’ll walk you through a couple of examples of what I have seen where the service partner is just as important as the rain maker partner, but the comp structure of the firm doesn’t reflect that.

Example 1. IP Law Firm

Rain Maker Partner is bringing in $2.5 million in billable work each year, and the type of work that Rain Maker Partner brings in can only be serviced by Service Partner. This is because the work is highly technical, requires a background in mechanical engineering and an expertise in materials and composition of metals. Service Partner is the perfect person to do that billable work because of Service Partner’s educational background and 2 years in the Patent Office as a Patent examiner.

Without Service Partner, Rain Maker and the firm would only be able to do $1.5 million in billable work each year. Even if junior associates or senior associates were brought in to support Rain Maker in doing that work, they won’t have the experience. Not only that but the work that the Service Partner does is billed at Partner rates, usually 20-30% more than what an associate is billed out at. Finally, Rain Maker Partner would have to spend less time rain making, developing relationships, and building the firm’s credibility to do the billable work that was brought in and review the work of junior associates.

The total upside for the firm is: $1 million in additional annual revenue and credibility in this field of IP law.

Now, most law firms have a KPI that requires all partners to generate $1 million of new business each year and ties comp to how much work is originated.

This means the Rain Maker Partner is being rewarded for originating all the work, and Service Partner is being punished for only servicing the work.

The reality is that Rain Maker Partner and Service Partner need each other, and the firm needs both of them.

KPI’s need to be flexible for both of these partners’ skill sets and roles within the firm. Additionally, compensation (origination, bonuses, equity) needs to take into consideration not only what new business was brought in but how it was serviced. Often, origination and a percentage of billable revenue is not enough to keep both Partners incentivized, motivated, and committed to the firm.

Example 2. Appellate Lawyer​
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Appellate lawyers are in a league of their own. Writing briefs and arguments is a true skillset and it’s undervalued across a majority of firms.

The Appellate Lawyer is the Service Partner, the one who is researching the case law, structuring the argument and writing the brief that is submitted to the highest court.

Yet, the Appellate Lawyer is often treated as less because he/she did not originate the work.

If you look at how the Rain Maker Partner is comp’d versus the Appellate Lawyer Service Partner, there is a 20-50% difference.

The reality is that the Rain Maker Partner neither has the time to do the in depth research and work required nor to manage the team that would be required were it not for the Appellate Lawyer Service Partner’s expertise.

All through law, there are examples of the Rain Maker partner being rewarded for generating the revenue without taking into consideration the other side of the equation, who is actually doing the work.

I see this in these practice areas as well:

• M&A
• Tax law
• Healthcare and life sciences
• Private Equity
• Real Estate
• ​

If you are a Service Partner in one of these firms, or if you are a Managing Partner and you want to keep the peace among the partners, then you have to look at comp in a way that doesn’t only favor the Rain Maker partner.

​Nermin Esq., 245 N Highland Ave NE, STE 230 #820 , Atlanta, Georgia 30307
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