Secrets of Success: How to Become a Law Firm Partner
I’m always thrilled to celebrate with my clients when they achieve their goals. And so, recently, when I heard from an attorney that I’ve worked with for nearly two years that she has been elected as a partner in her AmLaw 100 firm, it was great news.
But I’m happy for this lawyer not just because she is an amazingly talented attorney, and has built a well-deserved reputation as a valued colleague and savvy counsel. I’m also impressed at how she was able to navigate and master the complexities of the partnership election process.
She and other attorney clients of mine who have successfully become partners in their firms are not just smart lawyers. They know that they have to do a lot more than that to make partner, and they focus on what the partnership process looks like at their firms so they can develop a plan to be nominated and elected. Want to know some of the secrets of their success? Here are a few:
They start developing a strategy and steps to progress towards partnership well in advance of the year when they will be best positioned for election. Often, these attorneys are thinking about what their partnership path looks like and taking specific, concrete steps to build their candidacy over a two-to-three-year period. They are diligent in pursuit of their goal, and they carefully monitor how they are progressing, and what more they need to do.
They assess critically whether their current firm is one which offers a viable path to partnership for them. They look at factors like how valuable their practice is to the firm, what need there is for a partner with their subject matter expertise, and what their competition looks like among their peers also seeking to become partners. The history of promotions in their firm and within their practice group, and the changing variables the firm looks at from year-to-year that may impact their candidacy positively or negatively are all important.
They ask a LOT of questions of LOTS of people within their firm to find out information that is helpful to them in learning what they may need to do to make partner. They talk to colleagues who have recently made partner, firm leaders, practice group leaders, the partners they work with the most, mentors, attorney development professionals, finance team professionals, and many, many others at their firms. Why? Because law firms don’t hand out manuals listing all the things you need to do to make partner. So you need data to help obtain facts that can assist in constructing a workable plan to achieve partnership.
They do not assume that they will make partner because someone like them did in the past, they do good work, they keep busy with projects, or people like them at the firm. They focus on what they need to do to operate, perform, and be seen at partner level before being elected partner. To help identify what factors are important in demonstrating how they work as a partner, they solicit critical feedback about how they are positioned for partnership and what more they can do to get there.
They build a track record that shows significant profitability margins, high billable hours, and experience running and managing sophisticated matters, year-over-year for multiple years prior to being nominated for partnership.
They understand the specific financial metrics their firms are looking at to judge whether someone is likely to be able to justify the investment in them as a new partner and the probability that they will succeed long term in that role in a profitable way. They also demonstrate this knowledge in how they impose good financial management of matters for which they are responsible, so that they reduce write-offs, improve realization, and increase profit margins.
They are able to show how they would increase not only revenue but increase work and profitability for the firm that would not otherwise happen absent their elevation to partnership. To support this claim, they can demonstrate the financial impact their work has had to date and outline a credible trajectory of what they will grow beyond that in their first few years of partnership. In short, they need to show how they can grow and add business, not merely maintain existing client work.
They have clients who trust them to run their matters, and ask for them by name to be assigned to projects or to lead significant work streams. And, in turn, these attorneys ask the firm and the originating partners for matter management credit so that the leadership and responsibility that the attorney is bringing to the work are recognized by the firm in a tangible and specific way.
They are able to explain why they should be a partner NOW. There needs to be a specific and immediate case for elevating someone to partnership, not just a general idea that they would be a good partner at some point in the future. For example, a strong, timely argument for partnership can be made where an attorney has unique, specific experience in a region, industry or sector that the firm currently lacks but where there is demonstrated, significant, and ongoing client demand, and evidence that the clients are willing to pay this specific attorney at the partner-level rates that the firm would set.
They enlist advocates and sponsors who can speak for their nomination. In most firms, it’s not enough to have only one or two people who recommend you for partnership. Instead, you need to have multiple backers, including a diverse group of partners whose opinion will be valued in the partnership election process in the year you are nominated. Amassing this broad support involves working with, and demonstrating to, many people over the years how you work, manage, lead, and collaborate within the firm.
They treat the partnership application memo and the partnership interview process with the seriousness and diligence that they would give to a critically important brief for a valued client. They spend significant time drafting their written case for partnership, and ask for feedback and input from people that they know will be well-informed about the decision-making process. They moot and practice their presentations to partnership nomination committees, and they work to ensure they are listening and responding to the questions that they receive in a thoughtful and thorough way.
If you’re working towards partnership in your law firm, and want to develop a plan for your election, please reach out to me to discuss how I can help you get started. Contact Laura