And many are too dependent on a few top partners, making them vulnerable to raids or acts of God.

In fact, the litigation group's entire annual operating budget of $500,000 is less than what individual top partners in leading corporate law firms earn.

In the fall, Brobeck's top partners renegotiated the terms of the loan with the bank.

This money is usually used to help pay salaries and bonuses, which can total more than $1 million each for a firm's top partners.

At a first meeting, where the firms were divvying up sectors of industry to study, top partners anxiously tiptoed around one another.

Discussions about selecting a top partner are expected to continue today.

What is more, the new top partner of the project, Microsoft, provides the participants with the newest technology for free.

When asked, the big firms' top partners say they have little interest in going public.

Lord, Day is one of the nation's oldest firms but has suffered from recent defections of top partners.

It raided top partners from established law firms and acquired smaller firms around the country.