mrango07:

When you speak of "additional work" I assume you mean addition duties placed on top of a full project load. It is on that basis that I respond below.

It is not a given that a "Managing Partner" picks up "additional work". While that may be the case in some firms, in others the Managing Partner will carry a reduced project load to offset the time he/she spends on firm administration.

Partner compensation is - by any objective standard - one of the most complicated and politically sensitive administrative challenges confronting the ownership of any multi-partner firm. In the best of all worlds, the partners will --- as a group --- evaluate the overall contributions of each partner at year-end and allocate firm profits according to relative contribution. However, because "contribution" is, at best, a subjective judgment, these decisions can become very difficult. 

Because these decisions are so difficult, in many firms the partners simply give up and allocate profits according to relative ownership. However, if -- over time -- there exists a significant disparity among the partners with respect to effort, workload, and direct contribution to profits, this approach usually is not sustainable for very long.

The assessment for Managing Partner contribution can become even more difficult because -- if the Managing Partner carries a reduced project load -- his/her direct contribution to potential profits is automatically reduced. For this reason, most frequently at least a component of the Managing Partner's compensation is tied to firmwide profits (and possibly other firmwide performance factors).

Hope this helps.

What do you mean by "additional work" exactly? A partnership in the strict definition means all partners have a stake in the firm and therefore get profit sharing. Many places I've worked the (managing) partner-s doesn't put in nearly as many hours of actual work per year as does their average overstrained employee. It's the middle management that really puts in the most work typically, having to manage and do admin as well as designing and producing. This is why you want to make partner, or even better start your own :) To not make an entirely off topic post, the MP at my firm pre-crisis of 2008 would take home about 400k per year.

At my firm at the time I should say

Thank you quizzical and empea.  The issue that I'm running into is that the managing partner (handling operational aspect) doesn't carry a reduced project load, in fact this partner often exceed the others in project loads / profitability.  I'm just trying to get an idea is any other firms have similar situations and if so how they handle compensating said partner for the additional work.

so the guy who does more billable work wants to get paid more?

is there a guy who brings in more clients?  the schmoozing involved with that tends to bring more money into the company, but isn't billable

same for people who manage infrastructure, accounting, potential legal issues, etc.  there are a plethora of overhead expenses that shouldn't be dismissed since they're non-billable.

why isn't the managing partner handing that work off to his employees?  is it because he can't stop micro-managing?  the other partners might have a case to want to pay him less if so, since he might be limiting the company's growth potential.

The partner that brings in the most billable work is also the managing partner so they feeling is that he should be compensated additionally. 

mpr0814 (mrango07 ?):

Thanks for the additional information. It's useful to know a bit more about a situation that easily could become quite troublesome in your firm.

This topic is so complex, and so dependent on the specifics of your firm's situation and the personalities involved, that we're not likely to provide you anything remotely definitive in the way of a solution here. However, I can recommend a resource that you should find helpful:

http://www.amazon.com/Managing-Professional-Service-David-Maister-ebook/dp/B00120955I/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1393349291&sr=8-1&keywords=maister

This is an excellent book by a very knowledgeable practice management consultant. The referenced volume contains three specific chapters that you might find helpful:

23. The Art of Partner Compensation.

24. Patterns in Partner Compensation.

25. Pie-Splitting

Good luck.