Starting next year, it will be nearly impossible to be a partner in name only at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld.
The firm will become an all-equity partnership in 2014 and will require most everyone who carries the title of partner to chip in a percentage of compensation to help fund firm operations. The move is expected to affect 75 partners who are currently paid on a straight income basis, Akin Gump chair Kim Koopersmith said Tuesday. In exchange, those lawyers will get more of a say in firm decisions and a chance to share in profits, though they will still have a portion of their pay guaranteed for the first several years after being promoted.
