Rethinking performance: Do tougher partner expectations risk damaging culture - or could they strengthen it?

As Lexington launches new research building on the 2023 Perfect Partner study published by Harvard Law School´s Centre on the Legal Profession, Moray McLaren asks whether tougher partner expectations help firms perform at their best, like elite teams in sport, or quietly undermine the culture that makes high performance possible. 

Over the past three years, law firms globally have enjoyed record levels of profitability. But looking more closely, much of that improvement has been driven by cost savings and price increases rather than stronger performance. In many markets, hours billed per lawyer have remained stubbornly flat. 

Balancing financial levers 

This has prompted firms to look harder at “performance.” In our work with law firms globally, we see the risk, however, that “performance” is interpreted narrowly - as a set of financial levers such as increasing prices per hour and enforcing tighter billing targets. 

Partners and leaders sometimes fear that a focus on performance will damage the firm’s culture. The concern is that demanding higher standards will erode collegiality, discourage collaboration, or even push people out of the firm. 

In the research, we will be testing the extent to which the opposite is true - that a positive culture does not mean avoiding hard conversations or lowering standards but rather creating the trust and respect that make those conversations possible. 

When people feel valued, supported, and connected to a common purpose, they are more willing to stretch themselves, hold each other accountable, and commit to shared goals. In other words: culture is the foundation of performance, not its enemy. 

Clarifying strategic purpose 

In elite sport, the highest-performing teams succeed by combining two essential ingredients: fostering a culture of trust, support, and belonging, and maintaining high standards of performance – defining clear roles, sharing ambition, enforcing accountability, and practising discipline. 

They do not succeed simply by demanding more wins from their players. They succeed by creating an environment where team members are: • understanding the team’s ambition (the “North Star”), • recognising what excellence looks like in their role, • trusting that their teammates and coaches have their back, • feeling proud to belong to the team. 

Balancing support and accountability is what enables teams to perform at the highest level - not choosing one or the other but combining both. Crucially, it means aligning individual aspiration with a collective purpose that could not be achieved alone - allowing people to pursue their personal aspirations while contributing to something greater than themselves. 

Our research will be investigating the following priorities: 

• Avoiding over-reliance on financial levers: Exploring how increasing billing rates or cutting costs may deliver short-term profit but alone, do not address the underlying drivers of performance. 

• Clarifying the “North Star”: Examining how firms help partners and teams understand the broader ambition and how individual contributions align with it. 

• Balancing accountability with support: Investigating how firms set clear expectations while investing in coaching, mentoring, and genuine development of people. 

• Encouraging open feedback: Assessing how firms create climates of trust where constructive challenge is welcomed - with partners demonstrating respect, openness, and a willingness to listen. 

• Celebrating small gains: Understanding how recognising modest improvements in performance - especially when built on a supportive culture - can have a disproportionate impact on both profitability and morale. 

Personal and institutional trust 

Trust within a firm is not only personal, but also institutional. It is only when individuals trust the firm’s approach to recognising and rewarding contribution that they feel able to act generously: passing work to colleagues who are better placed to deliver, whether due to capacity or expertise. This kind of collaboration depends on believing that doing the right thing will be valued - not just informally, but through a fair and transparent review process. 

Current approaches to delivering legal services are under pressure. Clients are more demanding, talent is more mobile, and profitability drivers are shifting. This shift will accelerate as AI becomes more widely adopted. 

In this environment, performance matters more than ever. But performance cannot be separated from culture. One without the other is fragile. Together, they create resilience, loyalty, and long-term success. 

Through the research, we will be exploring how firms understand performance in its wider context - where behaviours support success for the right reasons, including the pursuit of financial targets. 

If you would like to participate in the research, please contact us at research@lexingtonconsultants.com. You can also visit the Lexington website to explore previous studies: lexingtonconsultants.com/copy-of-market-trends.