Compensation per partner is hardwired to two economic statistics—hourly billing rates and the ratio of deployable associates to partners. “You want LOTS of associates per partner,” explains Skilling. Between the mid-nineties and 2000, the ratio of directors to consulting staff, which includes associates, increased to 1:17 from 1:12. Even as revenues grew by more than three and a half times, the partnership grew more slowly, by about two and a half times,
