Recently promoted BigLaw partners explain what it takes: It's about the dollars
What does it take to become a law firm partner?
The American Lawyer (sub. req.) posed that question to 338 lawyers at the nation’s top 200 law firms who became partners in the last four years.
“What it takes,” the article says, “is a mix of challenging but not impossible metric goals, strong professional networks and an eye toward one’s marketing, sales skills and client relationships.”
Two-thirds of the surveyed partners are male, and almost all of them are married or living with a significant other. Eighty percent have children. Two-thirds are nonequity partners, a higher percentage than in prior years. The vast majority had worked as lawyers for five to 10 years before becoming partner.
Lawyers responding to the survey were given the option to provide contact information for follow-up interviews.
Robyn Axberg, a mergers and acquisitions partner at Holland & Knight in Chicago, said she didn’t make partner on her first application. She went to her practice group leader to find out how to succeed the next time. She worked on hours, originations and collections. “As an associate, its hours, hours, hours,” Axberg told the American Lawyer. “On partner, it’s dollars, dollars, dollars. …. If I want to be able to make equity, it’s building that client base. It’s hard. It’s really hard.”
Natalie Bennett, an IP litigator at McDermott, Will & Emery in Washington, D.C., said she enlisted a client she had worked with at trial in her bid to become a partner. The client contacted senior partners at the firm to recommend her.
“I feel strongly that it’s important to have more women in positions of power and leadership, and I’ve always seen myself there,” Bennett told the American Lawyer.
Despite their accomplishments, many survey respondents were gloomy about the future. Many questioned whether partnerships and law firm promotion models would remain viable. One lawyer noted that in-house legal departments are keeping more legal work for themselves. Another complained that top rainmakers aren’t given incentives to share credit, harming compensation for other lawyers in the firm. Some felt associate pay increases could lessen their share of the profits.
Said one respondent, “I am worried that the massive increases in associate compensation will force us to raise our rates to the point that we can no longer remain competitive with our boutique counterparts.”
