Hey guys, welcome back to my channel, the
best place for new and inspiring lawyers on all things law school, the legal industry,
and lawyering life. In today's video we're going to be answering
the question, how do you go about making partner? Because how to make partner and how your life
changes as a partner, and what that really means and entails are things that are really
kept under wraps by law firms and there really isn't a lot of information out there. And so those are the things we're going to
be tackling today. And then also be sure to stay to the very
end of the video and I'm going to give you guys a guide that you can download on how
to start this entire process -- the first step of it all, how to get that first job
out of law school. So if you're excited to get going, smash that
like button and let's dive in. So what does making partner actually mean? Well, in the law firm world, at least in the
U.S., there is one big promotional step from associate to partner. There's no real steps in between like there
are in corporate America where you could go from associate to manager to senior project
team lead to vice president. There really isn't a lot of in-between steps
and so traditionally when a law firm said that you were making partner, they meant equity
partner meaning that you actually owned a portion of that law firm, of that business. But nowadays it's a lot more common to have
a two-tiered partnership structure where you have non-equity partners and then afterwards
you have the step to equity partner. The biggest difference between non-equity
partner and equity partner as you can probably tell is that a non-equity partner doesn't
have equity in the law firm. It doesn't have a co-ownership of that law
firm and as a result not equity partners tend to be called "partners in title only" or "glorified
associates." But I think that's a bit unfair to characterize
it that way because making partner is still a really huge deal even if it's non-equity
partner status because not all associates make it, it's not a foregone conclusion that
if you go through your term in the law firm that that is how you are going to end up. And so it is a really big deal and the statistics
are rightly widely reported, but one of the ranges that is consistently out there is 30
to 50% of associates ultimately make it to the partnership stage. Next, how much do partners get paid? So as a non-equity partner, you are going
to be paid a salary and a bonus just like you were as an associate. And depending on the size of the law firm,
it might be a big jump from what you were making as an associate or it might stay in
line with that lockstep structure that you continue to follow as an associate. So that doesn't necessarily mean that it's
going to be a small amount of money. It just might not be as big a jump as you're
expecting. So for example, in the big law salary and
bonus structure, it suggests that a non-equity partner would start off making about $350,000
with a $100,000 bonus for $450,000 that first year, which is a ton of money by any standard,
any measurement. It just might not be a huge jump from what
you are making as a more senior associate in your eighth year, for example. It could be something around the range of
15 to $20,000 more, as opposed to in a smaller firm that jump might be a whole lot bigger. It might be much more than you were making
as an associate even though it's still following that salary and bonus structure. So how long does it take to make partner? Well, every law firm does it a little bit
differently. But generally speaking, you're eligible for
partner after your eighth year associate year, meaning that January of what would be your
ninth associate year would be your first year as partner. And so as you can imagine as seventh and eighth
year associates, you are going to be working a ton, billing a ton of hours trying to show
the firm the value that you bring, that you are an asset to that firm, and that you deserve
to be on that partnership track. Unfortunately, just because you make partner
does not mean that that workload is going to slow down. So how much can you expect to work as a partner? Well, once you make partner you are no longer
only expected to do the substantive legal work of the cases and deals that you have
traditionally worked on. The entire point of being a partner is to
contribute financially to that law firm's business, i.e. develop clients. And so most law firms understand that as a
new partner it does take time to develop a reputation, to be known in your field, and
to really earn the trust of clients to actually hire you personally to represent them. And so there is going to be that transition
phase, but you are going to be expected to start reaching out to potential clients, to
make yourself known in the local legal community, and to start going on client pitches and and
negotiate engagement letters and billing rates and that sort of business development activity. Unfortunately becoming partner doesn't create
just a beautiful, natural divide between substantive legal work and client development. And so more often than not you're just going
to be pulling double duty and doing both. And, once you have those client relationships
and you have that book of business, yes, the law firm will put value on those relationships
that you've created. But unless and until you have that client
book of business, you are going to have the role of a support partner, i.e. supporting
other partners that have cases and deals and clients of their own. And so you can expect in that role to continue
billing the same amount of hours you are billing as an associate regardless of your level of
seniority as partner. So what is the process of actually making
partner? What does it look like? Well, every law firm does it a little bit
differently. But, an example of how this could go down
is, at the beginning of the year, the law firm makes a list of all of the associate
candidates. So, for example, all the associates in their
eighth year. At some point in the year, then the board
of directors or the equity partners who's ever in charge of making the decision, will
meet and discuss each of the associate candidates, and they may also call the associate candidates
in for an interview to talk about what their value they feel like they bring to the firm
is, going over recent work evaluations, and asking them for their input and their view
for how they can bring in clients in the future. And some law firms actually require their
associate candidates to develop a client business plan. So, come up with a list of potential clients
they think they could reach out to, potential relationships that might develop into client
relationships, and just generally how they plan on generating revenue for the firm down
the road. And then who's ever making the decision, the
board of directors or all of the equity partners, will vote. And generally it's a majority vote. Either yes, this person becomes partner, or
no, this person does not become partner. And as you can tell from the nature of the
discussions and evaluations and interviews and voting that it is really important to
have multiple equity partners that know you, that have worked with you, that can be advocate
advocates for you during this process because you want people who are recommending you,
who are pulling for you, who are promoting you in this partnership evaluation process. And what you don't want to have have have
happen is your name show up on a list and everybody blanks because no one knows who
you are, no one's ever worked with you, and no one is there to be an advocate for you
in that process. So what can you do to position yourself to
make partner eight years down the road if that is your ultimate goal? Well, the number one question that law firms
are going to be asking themselves when deciding whether to make you partner, is does this
person have an ability or potential to bring in clients down the road? And so for smaller law firms where the client
base can be individuals or smaller companies, smaller organizations, they may already require
you to have a book of business in order to make partner, meaning you already personally
have that client relationship or that client origination credit. But, for most law firms, especially bigger
law firms, it is very, very unlikely that a senior associate has his or her own book
of business already. And so that's why they're going to ask you
for a client development plan, for your strategy as to how you are going to reach out to certain
clients, how you are going to eventually create and develop those relationships to bring in
clients down the road. And aside from actually having those clients
already, or having a plan to develop those clients, there are things that you can do
throughout your eight years at a law firm to prove to the law firm that you have that
ability to generate client business, that you are partnership material. And the first one is do you do the substantive
legal work well? So, do you get a lot of great evaluations
from the partners you work with, from the clients you work with? Do the cases and deals that you're working
on do well or tend to do well? Are they generating a lot of revenue for the
law firm? Number two, aside from the substantive legal
work, are you a good manager? Have you shown that you can run cases, that
you can run deals, that you can manage other associates and legal staff? Number three is, are you good with people? Do the partners who work with you, do they
like you? Do the clients that work with you, do they
like you? Do you have an ability to create relationships
in the local legal community that could one day turn into client relationships? And finally, do you contribute to the law
firm in ways other than just the legal work itself? Are you involved in the law firm committees? Do you get involved in summer associate or
recruiting activities? Do you attend from events? Basically, are you interested in the growth
of the firm as a whole? Now it's important to keep in mind that there
are going to be factors outside of your control that very well may influence whether or not
you make partner. And the first one is that if in your practice
group or your office of the law firm or the law firm as a whole, if the associate class
is particularly bottom heavy or the partnership group is particularly top heavy, the law firm
may not be looking to add to partnership ranks. The second one is that if in your practice
group or in your office or in the law firm generally as a whole is having a tight year,
is having a low year financially, they also may not be looking to make a new people partner. Number three is the economy nationwide or
worldwide depending on where your law firm operates. It definitely impacts different practice groups
differently, and so it may be a really strong year for real estate, but a really weak year
for bankruptcy, and how that growth and that health of those practice groups are doing
and depending on what practice group you are in, can absolutely impact and influence where
the law firm is looking to make associates partner. Number four is just the overall general trend
that less associates are being made partners. And so in the traditional traditional traditional
sense in law firms, it was a much more natural transition from associate to partner, was
much more of a given that that would happen. And nowadays that's not the case at all. As we've talked about, only 30 to 50% of associates
are seeing themselves be made partner. And one of the statistics that really jumped
out at me was that in the last 15 years, 27% of equity partners, a growth of 27% of equity
partners has been seen. But a growth of 86% of all other attorneys,
non-equity partners has been seen in law firms. And so as you can see, that is a really large
disparity that is being, um, uh, experienced in law firms right now. And then the last factor I do want you guys
to be aware of is the possibility that a particular partner just does not want to see you promoted. And if you are in a law firm where an equity
partner has a veto vote that can block you from becoming partner. And I hate to say it, but I bring it up because
I have seen it happen, that no matter how, how hard you work, and no matter if you do
all the right things, that you might just get on the bad side of somebody, and that
might prevent you from making partner at that law firm. But that's one of those things that you can't
control. So absolutely don't worry about it. Just focus on making yourself the most competitive
partnership candidate that you can make yourself if that is your end goal. All right guys, if you've stuck with me this
far, congratulations. And I want to hear from you in the comment
section below if making partner sounds good to you. If it's something you think you would want
to do, thumbs up, or if it sounds terrible and you would literally do like to do anything
else with your life. Thumbs down. And I want to hear from you guys and also
want to hear how your opinion changes after we go into this last phase of the video, talking
about equity partnership. So equity partnership, it is the crown jewel
of law firm advancement. It's a seat at the table. It's a co-ownership in the law firm itself. It's the most advanced that you can get in
the law firm world. And so as you can imagine, it is a goal of
a lot of associates when they start out. And the main difference with equity partnership,
as opposed to any other role in the firm, is that co-ownership, which means the compensation
that you're going to receive. So, instead of receiving a salary and a bonus
like you did as an associate or like you did as a non-equity partner, you're actually going
to be compensated with a percentage of the profits that the law firm earned that year. And every law firm divvies up those profits
a little bit differently. But it generally operates on a point system,
and the points are allocated to each partner based on the contributions of that partner
to the firm for that year. And of course the most important contribution
that a equity partner can make to a firm is the amount of business that they bring in
that year. So, how much money did the clients that they
have a relationship with, that they have origination credits with, bring into the firm by way of
hiring the law firm to represent them in a particular case or deal. As an equity partner, there are other ways
other than client business contributions that you can use to earn partnership points, partnership
credits, such as contributing substantively to a legal matter, a case or a deal that has
a particularly positive outcome for the firm that year. And then to a lesser extent also sort of contributions
in the running of the law firm itself. So maybe management activities or your participation
in law firm working groups or recruiting efforts, things like that. So as you can imagine, the income that you
generate each year is going to fluctuate not only based on your own contributions to the
firm that year, but also how the firm does overall. Another important thing to keep in mind is
that the size of the law firm really does matter and how much money that that law firm
generates is going to matter because you could potentially make more as an associate or a
non-equity partner at a big law firm, then you might be able to make as an equity partner
in a smaller law firm. So those are just things to keep in mind as
you go through your career and as you start making those strategic and financial decisions. And to give you an idea of how high this equity
partnership compensation can go, the AmLaw 100 actually reports the profits per partner
of the top revenue-generating law firms in the United States. And in 2018, the latest year available, that
average was $1.7 million per equity partner and Wachtell Lipton topped the list with paying
their equity partners $6.5 million per partner. So that gives you an idea of how high that
number can reach on average for the top 100 law firms in the United States. And last but not least, what happens if you
don't make partner? Traditionally law firms have had an up-or-out
policy, meaning you either make partner or you're asked to leave. And this can be pretty brutal because most
law firms are not very transparent with their associates about their status as a partnership
candidate. And it could be that you invest eight years
of your life into a law firm and only find out that you're not partnership material when
you get that no vote from the equity partners. And so it's really important in your six and
seventh and eighth years to have those difficult conversations and ask, Hey, am I on the right
track? Is there anything I could do better? How am I looking as a candidate? So that you know and you have that information
so that you can make decisions about your career at that point. And after all of this, if you don't make partner
at the end of this entire process, don't ring the alarm bells yet because you still have
options. And the first option is that you can try again. So just because you don't make partner the
first year that you're eligible doesn't mean that you will never make partner. A lot of law firms allow their associates
to try two, three, four, five times to be eligible for a partnership candidacy, and
so if you get a no vote that first year, again, make sure you're having those hard conversations
about why it was a no vote. What are you looking to see? What can I do better? What do I need to make myself competitive
as a partnership candidate? Number two is that you can ask the law firm
if they have non-partnership track roles because not all law firms have a strict up or out
policy. They also can have sort of senior, more senior
than associate positions that are usually called "of counsel" or "staff attorney." And what that means is that you are more senior
than an associate, but you're not as senior as a partner, and you don't have any expectation
and you don't have any desire to create client business. And so you can stay on at the firm and do
the substantive legal work without worrying about developing a client base. A third option is to lateral. So if you are an associate at a larger firm
and you get turned down for partnership, you absolutely can look to lateral to a smaller
law firm and negotiate a partnership status there because maybe you're experience and
contribution wasn't deemed sufficient for one law firm, but it absolutely could be for
a smaller law firm. Number four is to do something different with
your law degree. So at the end of all of this, it may feel
like, you know, you slaved away for eight years and it was all for nothing. But you have to remember that you developed
some incredibly marketable skills along the way. And this may be your chance to do something
different with your law degree outside of the private law firm world. It could be that you become a business owner
and you create your own law firm. It could be that you take your law degree
into the business world, into the corporate world, as an in-house attorney, or you could
go and fight for a cause that is really personal to you in a nonprofit organization. So there are lots of ways you can use that
law degree outside of an associate or partnership position at a law firm. Number five is going the public service route. So getting a job in a government agency. And you could do this simply because you're
interested in a government position, or if your ultimate goal is still to become a partner,
there are avenues into higher level government positions, federal prosecution positions,
and political positions, that lead back to partnerships in law firms. So keep that mind. And the last thing I would say is that you
have the option of leaving the legal industry all together. So if you get a no from a partnership candidacy
at a law firm, it may be the best thing that ever happened to you. If you have goals and dreams that you haven't
considered for years and years, and they include opening up a bakery in Costa Rica, then this
is your chance and your opportunity to really make those goals and those dreams a reality. So now you guys know everything there is to
possibly know about making partner in a law firm, but in order to be eligible to even
go down that path, you first have to get a job at a law firm. So be sure to check out my free quick start
guide on getting that first legal job out of law school. It has my top five strategies on what you
can do and what you can focus on in law school to put yourself in the best possible position. And if you haven't subscribed yet, be sure
to subscribe over here and check out these two amazing videos over here. I hope this video was helpful, you guys. I'll see you the next one. Have a good week.
