Making Partner
New Definitions of Partnership
The typical lawyer’s career track changed dramatically beginning about 20 years ago. Until then, it was typical for a lawyer to join a firm upon graduation from law school, work hard as an associate for five to seven years and then, in most cases, be admitted to the equity partnership, staying until death or retirement. In the late 1980’s, the partnership track for large firms was extended to nine or ten years, and other layers of attorneys started to be added between the associate and equity partner ranks. Now, there are all sorts of categories of law firm lawyers, including senior counsel, of counsel, special counsel, and so forth, with the title and criteria for each set by the particular firm. It is now common for law firms to have at least two tiers of partners: equity partners who share directly in the profits of the firm; and non-equity, income, or contract partners . . . [read]
Partnership Pursuit Begins Day One
The partnership track at most major law firms is seven to ten years long, and wise associates will make use of the entire time to position themselves for the nod... [read]
Transitioning to Partner
It is the end of the year and law firms are beginning to announce the elevation of their new partnership classes... [read]
