Law firms have undergone significant changes in the past few decades. Once a stable place to work, law firms are now experiencing higher turnover rates, less job security, and shorter average job tenures.
Many factors have contributed to this change in culture. Technology has made it easier for firms to manage larger numbers of employees and projects, so they are willing to take on more employees.
The rise of boutique firms has also made it easier to leave the company, as these companies do not have the extensive staff that large law firms do.
And finally, the increasing demand for lawyers due to an increasing need for legal services is contributing to higher turnover rates and shorter tenure in places of employment.
Boutique law firms are on the rise due to several factors. These firms typically focus on a specific type of case or client type, which can be due to geography or issue type. This focus allows them to be more efficient with their cases and resources, leading to success and growth.
You are not enough of an attorney to be made a partner
As mentioned before, being an excellent attorney is not enough to be made a law firm partner. You have to bring in a certain amount of money for the firm through business they would not get otherwise.
You have to be an asset to the firm, bringing in business and helping to manage cases that win cases and earn the firm money. You have to be a team player, someone who works well with others and contributes to a cohesive team.
You have to be an overall good-quality person who does not cause drama or break rules. If you are all of these things, then you are probably still not enough of an attorney to be made a partner.
Partnership has become much more strategic, with the goal being for partners to bring in as much business as possible while paying as little as possible. The less you cost the firm, the more likely you are to get made a partner.
You are too much of an attorney for the firm to keep you
Another reason why law firm partners are leaving their positions is that they feel they are too much of an attorney for the firm to keep them.
Partners may be very good at what they do, but if the firm does not see them as someone who can bring in business, they will not keep them.
A partner must be able to handle business from outside clients, which requires a heavy investment of time. If a partner does not see that in someone, they will not make them a partner. It’s that simple.
Outside of time invested, there is also the issue of money. Partners earn a certain amount, and if someone is not bringing in enough business to match that amount, then the firm will lose money keeping them as a partner.
The culture of lifelong partnership is dead
In a world where most jobs are no longer for life, the idea of a legal career being a “job for life” was particularly powerful.
For decades, the same firms hired almost exclusively from the same elite undergraduate and graduate schools, put associates through an arduous process to make partner and kept individuals in lockstep compensation increases until they chose to leave.
All of this was backed by an implicit threat: If you ever leave, we will not represent you. We will not give you new opportunities. You will be on your own.
This kind of cultural pressure goes far beyond the individual choice to stay or go. It affects how values are developed within an institution and how that institution functions as a whole.
It is also unsustainable. At some point, enough people leave that institution — either because they choose to or because they are forced out — and then the whole system has to change.
Law firm partnerships are different than they used to be
Partners at law firms used to have a guaranteed job for life. That included salary increases and financial rewards.
Law firm partners received a share of the firm’s profits, which were largely determined by the amount of business they brought in. The more business they received, the more money they made.
As business has declined across the industry, so have profits. In response, firms have had to make changes and cuts across the board.
Partners no longer have guaranteed income or benefits, and can be terminated if there is not enough work for them to do. This is known as being “de-partnered.”
Younger lawyers are also being forced to take reduced salaries as part of their employment with firms.
Who gets made partner matters a lot more now
Gone are the days when being a hard worker was enough to get you promoted. Now, promotion is determined by a number of factors, some of which have little to do with your actual job performance.
Partners now have to prove their value to the firm by earning enough in revenue for the firm to invest in them – in terms of salary and benefits – as well as their value to the business by helping bring in new business.
The latter is judged based on whether they can bring in new clients that pay significant fees and are likely to stick with the firm for several years.
Clarence Wooden, a lawyer at Williams & Connolly who left last year to start his own practice, said that at his old firm “you had to be doing $1 million or more” in annual billings “just to be considered for partner.
Why being a law firm partner is not what it used to be
The culture of law firm partnership has changed dramatically in the past few decades. Once a virtual guarantee of wealth and success, being a law firm partner is no longer a guaranteed path to success.
As more and more attorneys become independent through firms like ours, as alternative business structures, they are no longer able to take advantage of the benefits of being a law firm partner.
The culture that once forbade associates from seeking outside offers and discouraged partners from leaving the firm has completely vanished. Now, partners are taking offers from other firms and associates are leaving to start their own businesses.
This is due to several reasons: The increased availability of information has made it easier for attorneys to find success outside of the traditional model; there has been an increase in demand for legal services; and there has been an overall increase in demand for attorneys.
The changing nature of law firms means that some may not last forever
As the nature of law firms changes, so does the culture. Once, being a law firm partner was considered a job for life.
Partners in law firms were able to earn a very high salary, and they received benefits like vacation time and health insurance for the rest of their lives. This was because they had invested so much time into the firm and were considered assets.
But as partnerships change due to attrition, new partners have to be recruited. That may be difficult if the firm is not growing financially or otherwise.
In order to keep talent, some firms now offer restricted salary accounts as incentives to join. This means that even if you are a partner, you may not receive health insurance or other benefits for a while until you make enough money to qualify for them.
These changes are making it more common for partners to leave firms after only a few years, which can hurt the culture of permanence.
Partnership structures in law firms have shifted in recent decades
Once upon a time, being a law firm partner was a job for life. You worked hard as an associate, got promoted to senior associate and then partner, and you were set.
Associates were paid well, given benefits like health insurance and retirement accounts, and invested in the firm’s future by working long hours on high-profile cases that brought in revenue for the firm.
In return, the firm guaranteed they would make a certain amount per year, regardless of whether they won or lost cases or how many hours they worked. This was called a “salary partnership.”
As of 2014, only 7 percent of law firms in the U.S. offered this type of partnership, according to The American Bar Association Journal. The rest had what is called a “profitsharing” model — compensation is tied to productivity.
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