The Partner Track

Most Law Firm Associates Will Never Become Partners

So you want to become a partner at a corporate law firm. That means you have to work like a dog to stay at the top of your class – in high school, university and law school. Corporate law firms select only the best, brightest law school grads as junior associates. In this capacity, you will be a “grinder,” working at the lowest level for years – proofing documents, organizing case materials, and doing research and other relatively unsophisticated legal tasks. You seldom will have direct contact with clients. The next step up is senior associate, managing cases under the direction of the partners. Few associates make it to the mountaintop where the partners reside. The partners work with clients, decide how to represent their interests and try cases. And, most importantly, partners bring in new business. That is the classic “partnership track.” Five recent developments:

1. “Clients are not as loyal as they used to be” – They will move to a new firm more quickly than in the past and they are far more likely to divide work among several firms instead of giving it all to one office.