American Lawyer: Dinsmore's Josh Lorentz Talks Continued National Growth and Competitive Compensation
The American Lawyer released the Am Law 200 on May 18th this year, with Dinsmore coming in at 114. Since then, the firm has added construction litigators in Denver and an M&A team in Detroit. Dinsmore Intellectual Property Department and Finance Committee Chair Josh Lorentz talked to American Lawyer about the firm's aggressive trajectory, competitive compensation, and what makes Dinsmore stand out from other firms. An excerpt is below.
Dinsmore ... added 10 partners in the M&A and construction group pickups. The firm, which has moved up five spots in the rankings each of the last two years, started 2021 with a bang by announcing a merger with Indianapolis-based Wooden McLaughlin.
Lorentz ... said the firm has enhanced its position by constantly evaluating factors such as its compensation system and lawyer autonomy, and the firm tried to keep growing even when much of the world was on pause due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He noted the firm increased its associate pay scale this year and the firm tries to be as open as possible with partners about pay. Laterals in general have found that type of transparency attractive, Lorentz said.
“Every partner has one vote. All numbers are published. You know how everyone does throughout the partner ranks. All partners have access to all information. Not all firms do that,” Lorentz said.
Another piece that’s allowed the firm to be competitive is allowing lawyers to be autonomous, he said, noting, “We trust our lawyers in how they price matters because they know the clients better than folks in management or folks on the finance committee.”