The Impact of Underperforming Attorneys on Law Firms

The Impact of Underperforming Attorneys on Law Firms

In an Attorney at Work article, Brooke Lively highlights the substantial financial and cultural toll of underperforming attorneys. While salary costs are obvious, the greater impact lies in lost profit, wasted leadership time, and cultural corrosion that can eventually drive away a firm’s strongest talent.

Lively emphasizes the “rule of thirds”: an attorney’s billables should cover salary, overhead, and profit. If an associate earning $150,000 produces only $300,000 in collections instead of the expected $450,000, the firm’s profit vanishes, leaving leadership and owners to absorb the loss. Over a year, that gap equals at least $150,000 in direct financial damage before factoring in hidden costs.

Leadership distraction compounds the problem. Hours spent monitoring, coaching, and checking in on underperformers take time away from business development and high performers. Lively notes this can drain 30 to 40 hours per month across partners, mentors, and HR staff. Beyond that, underperformance corrodes firm culture, fueling resentment among top contributors. Over time, these frustrations push high performers to leave, an exit that costs 50% of their salary in recruiting expenses and up to twice that in lost billables.

To confront the issue, Lively recommends a structured evaluation using the EOS “GWC” framework: Does the attorney “Get it, Want it, and have the Capacity to do it?” If the answer is no, the mismatch should be addressed quickly, ideally within five months, through reviews, improvement plans, or ultimately, termination.

For managing partners, complacency about underperforming attorneys is costly. Swift, decisive action protects profitability, preserves culture, and demonstrates leadership that values and retains high performers.