For those of us who joined ZwillGen from BigLaw, this New Republic article has some strong familiarity to it (setting aside any specifics about Mayer Brown, about which we do not purport to comment). We formed ZwillGen in 2010 to offer an alternative to the culture described in this article, and have had great success making our law firm the antithesis of what the big firms have become. We do not “outsource” our lives to do our work, and we work collaboratively with each other at all times. We have not built an infrastructure that requires layoffs if our work levels fluctuate. We do not seek to grow and build for the sake of a ranking on an arbitrary law firm list (although we wouldn’t mind if the ABA Journal 7th Annual Law Blawg 100 noticed our work). We don’t track profits per partner, we don’t publish the salaries of our lawyers, and we neither pay on an “eat what you kill” basis, nor a lockstep. Everyone has their own compensation deal that feels right for them and the firm, and lawyers work generally the amount of hours that they want to (at least on an annual basis). We hire lawyers who are more interested in working collaboratively with each other and our clients on the most challenging projects than in arbitrary rankings or the highest possible income. We only hire lawyers who “fit” this culture. Those lawyers primarily motivated by nothing more than higher incomes and those who are eager to bill 2,000+ hours per year and view people who bill less as “slackers” need not apply. Everyone else is invited to submit resumes on our “Careers” page, found here.
