Criteria for making partner

[typycal]

what criteria do law firms often use to determine who will make partner?  i'd assume it would be successful work for the firm as an associate, but is there anything else of major significance?

[nealric]

#1. Bringing in new business
#2. Firm politics
#3. Being in the right place at the right time (i.e. being up for partner when new partners are needed)

[Blondie918]

At the firm I work you have to have worked with the firm for 5 years, you have to have met your billable requirements for those 5 years (associates bill 1950 hrs/yr, and you have to be voted in by the BOD.

[themanwithnoname]

#1. Bringing in new business
#2. Firm politics
#3. Being in the right place at the right time (i.e. being up for partner when new partners are needed)

as far as I can tell, 1 is not true at many places. The bigger, older firms rely on established client relationships far more than they do on new clients. of course, bringing in new clients is important but that is often work done by senior partners. There are many cases I worked on where senior partners brought in cases and let junior partners do most of the work.

[jacy85]

#1. Bringing in new business
#2. Firm politics
#3. Being in the right place at the right time (i.e. being up for partner when new partners are needed)

This has been true for the few big firms I've worked at.

I'd put more emphasis on #2 and #3.  And occasionally #1 is changed to something along the lines of being a big name in your field.  Partners really seem to serve 2 functions:  one is to bring in new biz, and one is to add to the firm's reputation.  So some people make partner based on their rainmaking abilities, and some make partner based on the name they've made for themselves as a bad-ass litigator or whatever (although this seems to be more difficult now, as associates more and more are chained to their desks while the partners go to court; yet another example of how law firms, as businesses, are terribly run.)

[Connelly]

If you owned your own business, at what point would you let someone working for you become a partner and share in your profits?  The decisions of partners to let associates move up to their ranks seems kind when coming at it from their perspective. 

[nealric]

as far as I can tell, 1 is not true at many places. The bigger, older firms rely on established client relationships far more than they do on new clients. of course, bringing in new clients is important but that is often work done by senior partners.

Sure, people make partner without a book of business. However, if you bring in a boatload of business, you will almost certainly make partner. The firm knows that othwerwise you will leave and take business elsewhere.

[Bulldog86]

#1. Bringing in new business
#2. Firm politics
#3. Being in the right place at the right time (i.e. being up for partner when new partners are needed)

This has been true for the few big firms I've worked at.

I'd put more emphasis on #2 and #3.  And occasionally #1 is changed to something along the lines of being a big name in your field.  Partners really seem to serve 2 functions:  one is to bring in new biz, and one is to add to the firm's reputation.  So some people make partner based on their rainmaking abilities, and some make partner based on the name they've made for themselves as a bad-ass litigator or whatever (although this seems to be more difficult now, as associates more and more are chained to their desks while the partners go to court; yet another example of how law firms, as businesses, are terribly run.)

Maybe this should be a new thread, but (how) can transactional lawyers build a strong reputation?

[jacy85]

I'm not sure, to be honest, as I've never been remotely interested in transactional work.  But if I had to guess, I'd say it's successfully managing and completely significant deals, getting good results for your clients, and building a good reputation.  Or you could find a niche not only w/ your practice, but also try to publish as much as you can everywhere you can (I'm thinking something like franchise).

But, since that's just a guess, don't take my word for it!

[themanwithnoname]

as far as I can tell, 1 is not true at many places. The bigger, older firms rely on established client relationships far more than they do on new clients. of course, bringing in new clients is important but that is often work done by senior partners.

Sure, people make partner without a book of business. However, if you bring in a boatload of business, you will almost certainly make partner. The firm knows that othwerwise you will leave and take business elsewhere.

this depends on the kind of firm we are talking about. Small firm, sure, that works. but there is no way an associate at a big firm can bring in a boatload of business compared to the clients they already have. It is just not comparable.