Biglaw

The Partner's Continuing Lament

In Biglaw, you'll do good work, be in demand, and stay busy -- until you age.

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More than eight years ago (heaven help me), I published A Partner’s Lament — a column about why life at law firms may actually get worse as one moves up through the partnership ranks.

A couple of weeks ago, I had lunch with a non-equity partner at a major firm, who’s now looking for an in-house job.  And what was his (or her) story?  The partner’s lament.

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

This person was appreciated when he (or she) was an associate.  He did good work.  He was in demand.  He stayed busy.

This person was appreciated when he (or she) was a junior partner.  He did good work.  He was in demand.  He stayed busy.

And then he (or she) aged.

Unless you learn how to develop significant business, that’s a problem.

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In law firms, you can’t ask for help from people who (1) practice in your field and (2) are senior to you.

If you’re 55, you can ask a 40-year-old to help.  If you’re 40, you can ask a 33-year-old to help.  But if you’re 55, you simply can’t ask a 57-year-old to help (except in the very largest of matters).  Lateraling up looks bad.  It isn’t done.  And it’s always possible the client will ask why you’re bailing out of the case and getting someone else to handle it for you.

By the time you’re older than the average person bringing in business, you’re no longer in demand.  Doing good work is no longer enough.  Unless you generate business, you’ll no longer be able to stay busy.

My lunch companion had all the usual complaints:  “I brought in a big overseas investigation!  I thought the firm would make me an equity partner!  And then the firm hired a new lateral partner.  The firm suggested the new partner assist me on the investigation.  Soon, the client was asking why we had two senior people working on the same case.  The client wanted only one — and the client picked the other person.  I lost my own client.”

And:  “The firm always picks the same people to appear at beauty contests.  I’m not on the list.  So the firm’s doing nothing to promote my career.  It’s just too hard to survive in an environment like this.”

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And the clincher:  “I think things have changed since you left law firm life 10 years ago.”

Things may have changed.  But not in the ways you’re talking about.

Because I wrote The Partner’s Lament eight years ago, and you’re singing from that very hymnal.

I explained to my lunch companion:  “People at law firms haven’t gotten sharper elbows.  You’ve just aged.  The firm used to appreciate your good legal work.  The firm doesn’t appreciate that anymore, because of your age.  Now, the firm appreciates only your capacity to develop business.  The firm bestows business on some people; the firm hands down institutional clients or grooms some partners to take charge.  But you’re obviously not one of those lucky few, and the firm plainly doesn’t view you as one of the people it should present to clients.  So you’re on your own: You can figure out a way to develop business without the firm’s help — or maybe despite the firm’s efforts to handicap you.  You can move to another firm or an in-house job, if it’s available.  Or you can struggle on, unappreciated (but still handsomely paid, compared to the average Joe) through retirement.  Those are the choices.”

That’s the reality for most partners at most large firms.

The average partner at an above-average firm is being paid far less than the firm’s “profits per partner.”  As I’ve written before, 70 percent of equity partners at large firms receive less than a firm’s average profits per partner.  That’s required as a matter of arithmetic, but it’s also compelled by the way firms operate.

A very few people are anointed.  Some bring in business with institutional help; some bring in business without institutional help; those people run the joint.

Everyone else survives, perhaps feeling as though they’re doing battle with the institution.  As one big firm partner said:  “There are three kinds of lawyers at this firm:  the associates, the partners, and the owners.”

“The owners” is a very small group indeed.

Most partners never get there, and it’s why life for partners who are not significant rainmakers may get worse as partners age.

Mark Herrmann spent 17 years as a partner at a leading international law firm and is now deputy general counsel at a large international company. He is the author of The Curmudgeon’s Guide to Practicing Law and Inside Straight: Advice About Lawyering, In-House And Out, That Only The Internet Could Provide (affiliate links). You can reach him by email at inhouse@abovethelaw.com.

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