About this episode

The episode explores the changes in Big Law partner compensation over the past decade and compares it to Wall Street earnings, using Belle Burden's husband as a case study.

Send us Fan Mail No one is talking about the insane thing that's happened to Big Law partner compensation over the past decade — and how it stacks up against Wall Street. In this deep dive we broke down EXACTLY what's going on. What started as an attempt to quantify how much Belle Burden's husband — from the cultural phenomenon Strangers — was actually earning during their marriage, after he left Davis Polk and landed at an equity long/short hedge fund, turned into a full-blown investigation: how Big Law and hedge funds really make money, what the compensation structures look like, and who actually comes out ahead. We were positive we knew the answer. We were wrong. Here's what we're not going to spoil — but here's what's on the table: One firm reportedly offered $80 million over three years to poach a single partner. That's not a typo. That's hedge fund money… for a lawyer. The top firms are clearing eight figures per partner — and we name them. The Financial Times has reported some hedge fund traders are being offered 9 figures comp packages but how does it vary roles by role, firm by firm and year by year, We get into the lockstep model, the eat-what-you-kill brutality of the…

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