Dewey Chairman Steven Davis said, “We are producing the best work in the history of the firm and producing some of its strongest results… The overwhelming majority of our partners are excited about our future.” That is, except the partners who are jumping ship?
The two partners to leave this week are merely the latest of the 18 who have left since January. Davis responded to this saying:
“We have been committed to having as fair a compensation system as we can have, and one that reflects actual performance and contribution to the firm. That doesn’t mean we’re going to satisfy everybody.”
Though known for aggressively grabbing heavy hitters to their team, the firm lost 14 partners to the 37 it took in last year, of the 300 total partners it staffs.
Nevertheless, Davis reports feeling confident about the success of the firm, and only complains that his every decision is being fed into the media:
“Nothing these days remains confidential,” he said. “Every decision we make seems to be occurring in a total fishbowl. I had a call from a journalist yesterday asking what time our monthly partners’ meeting was today. I almost said, ‘You might as well come, as it sounds like you’re going to hear about it anyway.’ That never would have happened in the old days.”