Brenda A. Barnes, CPA, MBA, is the founder of Brenda Barnes Consulting, where she works with law firm leaders on compensation design, succession planning, and financial strategy. She brings more than 35 years of experience in law firm financial management to her role, including serving as a law firm administrator in Austin, Texas. Brenda previously founded B2 Legal Management, an outsourced accounting and billing firm serving solo to midsize law firms across the U.S., which she built and sold in 2021. She is a former president of the Austin Chapter of the Association of Legal Administrators and co-author of RESPECT – An Insight to Attorney Compensation Plans, now in its second edition.
WHAT'S COVERED IN THIS EPISODE ABOUT LAW FIRM COMPENSATION AND RETENTION
Compensation touches almost every challenge law firms are facing right now, from recruiting and retention to leadership development and succession planning. Yet many firms are still relying on systems that evolved internally over time, with younger lawyers expected to understand how they advance, what the firm values, and what opportunities are available to them without anyone clearly defining it.
The firms being more intentional about compensation are putting structure around those decisions. They are writing down the criteria, defining what advancement looks like, creating more flexible career paths, and looking beyond billable hours when deciding what contributions should be rewarded. They are also treating compensation plans as systems that need to change as the firm's priorities change, rather than something to put in place once and leave alone.
In this episode of The Lawyer's Edge podcast, Elise Holtzman talks with Brenda Barnes of Brenda Barnes Consulting about why compensation has become such a critical issue for law firms, what younger lawyers are looking for when they ask for transparency, how associate and partner compensation systems are changing, and how compensation decisions shape retention and succession planning.
3:10 - Compensation as a strategic issue for law firms
5:30 - What transparency actually means to younger lawyers
7:40 - Clarity as a retention strategy
12:57 - The connection between compensation and respect
14:27 - Different approaches to associate and partner compensation
16:03 - Current compensation trends in small and midsize firms
17:23 - Flexible career paths for lawyers who do not want equity
20:06 - The compensation problems that bring law firms looking for help
24:16 - How level-based associate compensation systems work
29:06 - Customizing compensation to reward the behaviors a firm values
30:17 - Looking beyond billable hours to law firm economics and collections
32:58 - How origination credit affects succession planning
38:09 - Why firms eventually become what their compensation systems reward
Mentioned In How Law Firm Compensation Shapes Retention and Succession
Brenda Barnes Consulting
Brenda Barnes on LinkedIn
RESPECT – An Insight to Attorney Compensation Plans
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