Law Firm Wealth / Lesson
Origination credit is not the same as profit.
A firm can look busy and still be unable to explain partner pay. Split the numbers before you argue about fairness.
Four numbers people mash together
Origination credit is who brought the client. Working credit is who did the work. A draw is cash the partner already took. Profit is what is left after the firm’s real costs. When those four get discussed as one number, every compensation fight becomes a morality play.
Why the mash-up feels rich
A partner with a huge origination number can still be cash-poor if the work is slow, the costs are high, or draws already ate the year. Another partner can look “small” on origination and still be carrying the files that turn into money. If you cannot show both, you are guessing.
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I am not handing you a compensation formula to copy. Firms differ on credit splits, of-counsel deals, and what counts as origination. The teaching is the split itself: name the four numbers, write them down, and stop using one vanity total as the argument.