As Washington DC-based Steve Immelt next month takes over the reins from Hogan Lovells co-chief executives David Harris and Warren Gorrell, the disputes lawyer talks to Legal Business about the strategy going forward and partner ambition.
How did your appointment come about?
I wasn’t a part of the soundings process, but the board had talked to practically every partner in the firm to get their views – it was a comprehensive effort to get a sense of the partnership, which was invaluable.The board asked a number of people if they would consider the position. I was asked and decided I would.
Does it say anything about the direction of the firm that it has put a disputes-orientated lawyer in leadership?
I don’t think so. I would like to think what the board and partnership wanted was to find someone to command a level of respect and provide a level of comfort across the firm. It was probably more relevant that I was a longstanding partner at the firm and that I had held a series of management roles before. People thought that was more important than a particular practice specialisation.
What specific targets have you set yourself?
I would like steady growth in revenue per lawyer. It’s the best measure out there on whether you’re really progressing. You can grow by hiring lots of people and setting a profit per partner target, but with a diverse practice like ours, you need to be in a position to compensate your partners fairly. It’s hard if you’re operating in markets like Singapore, Dubai, Denver, New York or Washington to let profits per partner be the only thing you’re going to measure yourself by.
What about your remuneration model? From our feature last year, it was a big source of complaint.
There’s no model out there that’s perfect. While a lot of people express admiration for lockstep – it can work in certain situations, but for a highly diversified practice like ours that has a lot of regulatory components and specialisations, I don’t think lockstep is an escalator you want to put yourself on. It requires a real degree of rigour and in some ways almost ruthlessness to make it work.
Do you think the firm has broken into the global elite or is there still work to do?
If you’re not looking at how to add value, a client will conclude that the firm is not serious. That’s what you have to do to stay in the game. All of us have to challenge ourselves constantly to do this better and, frankly, cheaper from the client’s perspective.
Is the average Hogan Lovells partner ambitious enough?
There’s probably room across the board to develop that more. I see us as a firm that was prepared to do something different and bold and we made it work. That should give everybody the confidence to want to take new things on. That does require some recalibration – our ambition has to be tailored enough to fit what we want to accomplish in the market.