How Do You Get to Be a Partner in a Law Firm

In Dubai, he worked for four years at a local law firm before joining an international law firm as a senior partner. When India`s only law firm, Kochhar & Co., obtained a license to practice local law in the UAE, they partnered with Latheef and appointed him a partner in the Dubai office. Partnership structures of law firms can take many forms. But the central idea is that the partners generate revenue in the company in exchange for a share of ownership and profits. A partner and a partner are two key experts in the legal sector. Although both the partner and the partners are lawyers, the two positions may differ in some respects. If you`re interested in pursuing a legal career, it can be helpful to know the differences between these roles if you want to pursue one of two career paths. In this article, we look at what a partner is and what an employee is and look at some important differences between the two positions. The majority of lawyers who become partners in their law firm become partners without participation. This is a relatively new concept in the legal field. It was used in the 1980s, but it is really accelerating in the current business environment of the industry. Most law firms now have different levels of partnership.

For partners other than equity, there is less job security. In fact, non-partners often have more job security. They are not expected to bring a certain volume of business into the company as is the case with non-shareholder partners. If the non-shareholder partners do not bring enough new business, they can be dismissed from the company. According to Chappell, in the middle of an employee`s career, partners look at that lawyer`s billable hours, productivity, the number of clients the practitioner works with, and the profitability of the issues they work on. “In our business, it`s important not only to charge high-quality hours and be productive and profitable, but also to generate dollars by generating new business from existing or new customers,” chappell says. There are very few employees who have an undeniable reputation for reliability, who are absolutely trustworthy, who facilitate the work of partners, who are committed, who know how to create work, who attract mentors, who take responsibility, who constantly want more work, who constantly grow and all the other qualities of the best employees. This is one of the reasons why there are so few people who are partners in the largest and most competitive law firms. How do employees find mentors? While women and minorities can look for those with similar backgrounds, Broyles of Thelen Reid says this shouldn`t be the only requirement.

“Sometimes members of a minority feel that they would prefer to have a minority partner as a mentor because that relationship might be more enjoyable or familiar to them. In fact, these relationships are extremely valuable, but it`s just as important to realize that you can also get mentorship outside of this group – and it`s important that you do,” she advises. Mentors can be found in many different packages. Eaddy of Kilpatrick Stockton agrees, adding that her company also takes diversity issues seriously. More and more companies are taking the lead today as their corporate clients focus on diversity, he says. More and more large companies today want to promote diversity both in their own ranks and in law firms working on their cases, Eaddy adds. “For a diversity program to be successful,” he explains, “it must be strategic to ensure that women and minorities know and receive tools to empower them as business assets.” When mentors delegate responsibility to their mentees, both parties benefit, says Francesca Lavin, a partner at Cleary Gottlieb since January 2005. Lavin has generated business in Brazil as a partner, and experienced lawyers have encouraged her to manage these clients, she says. “It gave me the opportunity to grow as a lawyer, develop skills and generate business, which can be especially difficult for women because you have to be aggressive, introduce yourself and talk about your skills,” says Lavin.

“You don`t always grow up predisposed to these kinds of things as a woman,” she adds. The sooner an employee thinks about growing a business, the better. “It`s something people don`t often think about,” says Deborah Broyles, a partner at Thelen Reid & Priest, who chairs the national company`s diversity committee. “If you`re a junior associate, the learning curve is high and you work very hard to improve your technical skills.