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The Promotion Process at Chung and Dasgupta: Under The Guidance of Dr. Deepak Sharma
The Promotion Process at Chung and Dasgupta: Under The Guidance of Dr. Deepak Sharma
PROCESS AT
CHUNG AND DASGUPTA
Under the guidance of Dr. Deepak Sharma
By:
Priyanka Sahu (B028)
Teena C Antony (B051)
About Chung and Dasgupta, LLP
INTELLECTUAL
PROPERTY LITIGATION
Damages awarded in the cases was significantly higher than the Industry medians,
ranging from $2 million to $16 million between 1995 and 2011.
Mix of Employees
40 Partners
200+ Associates
The Litigation Model
Team Leaders are responsible to drive the overall process of litigation smoothly
v/s
Litigators focus on specialized areas of the case and litigate in the courtroom.
Performance Assessments
• Dedicated PA process that takes up 30% of partner time
• Each associate is assigned a Development Coach(DC)
Teamwork
Judgment
Independence and Client
Initiative and
Firm Relationship
Maturity
Relationships
Grades A-E
A- Meets partner Level Expectations
B- Exceeds the average associate but falls short of partner expectations
C- Average Associate; meeting Associate expectations
D- Below average Associate but acceptable performance
E- Not acceptable performance
Grade Point Average
• The nine letter grades are averaged, with each given equal weight, into an overall “Grade
Point Average” (GPA)
• The maximum attainable GPA is 4.0, and represents an Associate who receives A’s in every
category
• The average Associate receives a GPA of less than 2.5
• C & D does not attempt to “grade on the curve”
• C&D does not give more importance to the “total hours billed”
• At the end of each year, Associates are all asked to fill out a performance assessment form
for themselves
• DC reviews this self-assessment before she finalizes her own performance assessment for
the Associate
Evaluation Weekend
• DCs sometimes slightly change their initial grades based on the group’s feedback
Bands for Associates
Bottom
Top 10% 10%-25% 25%-50% 50%-75%
25%
Performance Assessment Meetings
• Later in February, every Associate and her assigned DC will hold a formal
“performance assessment meeting” (“PAM”) to review the Associate’s
performance that year
• The DC also uses the PAM to provide feedback and coaching to the Associate, and
to talk about priorities for the coming year
Annual Bonus
• A bonus of 100% is typically about 20% of salary
Band Bonus
Top 10% 140%
25%-50% 100%
Bottom 25% 60%
V/S
Jordan Ramirez
Mona Leung
Jordan Ramirez
Jordan’s Current Year Performance
• 5th time in a row she is ranked as the top “Team Leader”
• In Top 10% band this year
• First-year associates selected Jordan as “Top Mentor”
Productivity:
• Overall rank slipped from #2to #5 this year due to no change in Productivity grade
• Her 7% increase in billing had only put her slightly above average in her tenure
group and therefore no increase in Productivity grade
Grading of Jordan
Client Incident:
• Jordan’s grade went down this year in two other categories-Client Relationships,
Judgement & Maturity
• Due to an incident with a client who got upset at Jordan since there was a strategy
mismatch in a deposition
• It happened mainly because of miscommunication by the Partner in charge of the
case, Mr. Stuart
• But Jordan had to take the brunt of client’s anger
• At “Evaluation Weekend” several partners raised this issue
• Although Stuart tries to take up responsibility, a few partners wondered if Stuart
was trying to cover up for Jordan
Jordan’s Self Evaluation
• Jordan rated herself A in all category, except for Productivity where she rated
herself as B
• She did not mention about the Client Incident at all
• She believed that since she received A in all the 9 categories, she was “Partner-
Ready”
New Policy on Early Partners
It is expected that every strong Associates will not have the capabilities required
for partner election until the ninth year of their tenure at C&D. However, should an
associate demonstrate readiness for partnership in every way, the partners may
decide to elect said Associate to partner before her ninth year. This decision lies
solely with the partners.
Comparing Mona & Jordan
Jordan’s
Performance
Mona’s
Performance
Comparing Mona & Jordan
• Team Leaders receive on average lower grade’s that Associates
• This comparison can be unfair
• Jordan has been the “#1 Team Leader”
• Mona has been the “#1 Litigator”
Key Learnings –
Analysis of the PMS at C&D, LLP
Advantages Disadvantages
• An Associate with no experience is
• C&D does not give
evaluated with an associate coming
heavy weightage in its with 4 years of experience.
PA to an Associate's • The average GPA of a Team Leader is
always lesser than that of a Litigator.
total billed hours in the • Peer Ranking system to highlight
previous year. performance standards in the
company.
THANK YOU