"Up-or-Out" As Resolution To "Grab-and-Leave"

Attorneys are "knowledge workers," who differ from other employees because they carry around many of the firm’s assets in their brains. The knowledge assets these lawyers control—an understanding of the needs and interests of clients—are obviously of greatest value when used with specific clients. This specificity gives individual attorneys considerable leverage over their employers. By threatening to "grab and leave" with an important client, attorneys can leverage an increased share of their firm’s revenues. The up-or-out partnership system found in large law firms has evolved over time as a workable resolution to this particular problem. By forming partnerships and firing experienced attorneys who are not promoted to partnership positions, law firms limit the opportunity for experienced attorneys to grab and leave with the firm’s valuable clients.

See also, Hillman, Robert W. Law Firms and Their Partners: The Law and Ethics of Grabbing and Leaving, Texas Law Review, November 1988, 143-215.

("excited utterances", via Rainer Langenhan)