John Devaney was quoted in "Changing Compensation Strategies Put Partners Under Pressure ," published in The American Lawyer, regarding the increasing fluctuation of Partner compensation in the legal profession.

John Devaney says his firm has a wide compensation ratio in part because of its merit-based pay system. "We have long been a very merit-based compensation system where if you have a good year you get handsomely rewarded for it," he says. "There can be meaningful variation from one year to the next."

Devaney adds that the firm has a large bonus pool, so a typical partner's bonus is one-third of their income. The partners, many of whom work for newer companies with startup cultures, tend to like the opportunity to knock it out of the park and are comfortable with the risk, he says.

The wide compensation spread is also due to the fact that the firm has offices in cities like Boise, Idaho and Anchorage, Alaska, where lawyers charge very different rates and have very different expenses than their partners in New York and San Francisco. Finally, the firm promotes a relatively large share of associates and counsels to partner, which Devaney says adds to the discrepancy.