8 Reasons Why You Should Think About Leaving Your Firm
Do you wonder when your law or professional services firm will promote you, recognize your value, or increase your compensation? If so, and you’re not getting the traction you need to make progress, it might be time to start thinking about other opportunities. Here are a few reasons why you may want to take that step now:
The path to promotion is too long
There is no question that the path to promotion is getting longer and tougher. A 2021 survey by Leopard Solutions, a legal industry consulting company, found that the average time for entry level associates to make partner in their law firms was nearly nine years. For many law firms with an equity-only partnership tier, the path to partnership may be even longer, with 8th or 9th year associates being told that they will need to considered for multiple additional years before being promoted. For consulting and non-legal services firms, the path can be even longer, with promotions often extending to eight to fifteen years. What makes these timeframes even more difficult is the fact that there are no guarantees that if you don’t make it in one year, that you’ll make it the next year, or even anytime in the future. Your firm’s parameters for promotion may change, your portfolio of work may take a negative hit, or you may face other setbacks. Without a clear timeline for promotion, you may find waiting indefinitely to be frustrating. And there may be other firms that offer a shorter or more achievable promotion path.
Your practice area isn’t a priority for or doesn’t fit well within your firm
The practice area in which you have spent years developing expertise may have once been super-hot but is now less attractive for you or your firm. Maybe the people you worked with have departed the firm, and the firm has less ability to market a robust practice. Perhaps the practice area is less in demand by clients, because of the changing nature of the economy, putting more focus on some industries and less on others. Or maybe clients are less willing to pay the legal fees that they once did, given that there are other professionals that will do this type of work for less. Whatever the reason, if your practice doesn’t garner the interest and demand that it once did for your firm, you may face hurdles in convincing the firm’s leaders that you can continue to add value or grow the revenue of the firm in a meaningful way. Other firms may be more focused on this practice, and more capable of supporting you in it.
You lack the right supporters or champions in your firm
To be promoted, increase your compensation, or get other recognition, you need the backing of influential people within your firm who will advocate for you. You may have the support of colleagues who are enthusiastic about your work, but they may have insufficient influence in firm decisions. Firms also tend to pay more attention to partners or leaders who themselves command large amounts of revenue, develop major firm clients, and are viewed as having a strong sense of who is likely to add substantially more money to the bottom line. Without those types of champions, you may find it’s harder to make a case for your advancement in your firm.
Your financials don’t align with the firm’s goals
Law and other professional services exist to be profitable. Thus, promotion is heavily dependent on not just whether you can increase revenue, but whether you increase profit for the firm as a whole.
You need to show you are not only fully occupied with a large number of billable hours, but that those hours are at rates that clients are willing to pay, result in few write-offs, and are consistent over time. You need to achieve a high rate of realization, such that discounts or other arrangements with clients do not excessively diminish profit margins.
If you’re unsure how your practice’s financials measure up against other specific financial goals of your firm, you should consider having a conversation with your practice leader, your pricing/legal management team leaders, or the financial manager of your practice group to better understand your position. And if, following those conversations, it’s clear that pivoting your work to meet your firm’s financial objectives would be difficult for you, it may be time to look for a firm better suited for you.
Someone with power in the firm is determined to block your advancement
Do firms still reject or block a promotion based on the opinion of one person? Unfortunately, yes, especially when that person holds power within the firm. Myriad reasons exist as to why someone would block a candidate with an excellent case for promotion. They may have a favored candidate who is a friend who they are determined to support. You and this person may have had a bad experience working together, or a professional relationship that has deteriorated over time, and they cannot get past that. Some firms also continue to function like private clubs, rather than complex businesses, promoting only people that share a similar profile to the firm’s existing leadership. If you’re working somewhere that will block you from partnership for these types of reasons, you may not be able to overcome that obstacle. It’s time then to find another firm where you will be valued and recognized.
Developing business at your firm is difficult
The pressure to develop business is daunting, including for skilled professionals with deep networks. Even with the best efforts, you may struggle to secure clients with whom your firm does not have a legal or business conflict. Or it may be hard to obtain enough work from other clients that you can secure. And in some instances, despite your substantial work in a leadership capacity for existing firm clients, colleagues may refuse to share billing or management credit with you for that work. You may be better off at a firm that is more collaborative with credit, and has more ability to take on the clients with whom you have strong prospects.
Clients don’t know you or understand the value of your work
Visibility with clients is essential to your long-term success. You may not be the lead partner for the relationship, but it’s important that clients know you, understand your role, and appreciate your work. A client who knows the value of your work and, even better, is willing to be your advocate in the promotion process, will be a significant asset as the firm weighs your candidacy.
If you don’t have those kinds of client relationships and interactions, it may because you don’t have the opportunities to be in front of the client or to work directly with them. If you aren’t getting those opportunities, despite seeking them, then it can be harder to show why you are vital to that client relationship when the firm evaluates your promotion prospects. For example, if the lead partner insists on keeping you out of key meetings or even mentioning you to the client when you’re responsible for successful work, you can be hampered when the firm asks how clients view you individually. You may be better off in a firm where you can form better client relationships.
The culture of your firm no longer aligns with your values or priorities
Sometimes, your firm changes over time, perhaps raising the threshold of revenue that partners or prospective partners are expected to generate beyond what your practice will bear. Or the nature of the firm’s engagements overall may have evolved, being less focused on clients based in the city or region where you practice and more on bigger markets with larger, more lucrative clients. And in some instances, the overall work environment may have transformed so significantly that it just doesn’t feel like the place where you want to be. Perhaps it isn’t as collegial as it was some time ago or new practice groups are dominating the landscape at the expense of others. Whatever the reason, if the fit doesn’t feel right, then maybe it’s time to move on.
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If any of these issues resonate with you, then you may want to think about what does or doesn’t work for you at your current firm. Work to identify what firms better align with your practice, profile, and priorities. And assess how your prospects elsewhere may line up again your current firm. You owe it to yourself to evaluate your options and alternatives.
If you’re trying to determine whether to move on from your current firm, and assessing how you can move forward, please reach out to me to discuss how I can help you get started on that path. Contact Laura