Biglaw - twelfth-year associate??

[Anonymous]

I'm a fifth-year associate looking to get out as soon as possible. Co-counsel from another firm includes an associate who graduated law school in 2010, and started at that firm in the fall of 2010 with no interruptions. She seems like a completely capable attorney, though perhaps a bit more reserved than the partners on the case. Do some firms allow people to be associates for their entire careers? Or is this just a nice way of giving her some time to find another opportunity? I've never heard of anything like that before.

[Anonymous]

Completely normal now not for path to partnership to be longer than 10 years and I’ve seen up to around 15. Especially in firms that don’t have counsel or NEP roles

[Anonymous]

Yes! I remained an associate for over 12 years (they gave me a different title) because I was making good enough money with no firm responsibilities other than billing and I had young kids at home. I did it until they basically coerced me into partnership.

[Anonymous]

I know a number of 12th+ associates at my firm. Some make counsel and eventually partner, others have been told they're useful and welcome to stay but have no path to promotion. We have no NEP position, and for many practice groups counsel is required before partner.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes! I remained an associate for over 12 years (they gave me a different title) because I was making good enough money with no firm responsibilities other than billing and I had young kids at home. I did it until they basically coerced me into partnership.

If they gave you another title you weren’t as “associate.”
Duh.

[Anonymous]

Also a possibility… I left my firm to stay home with kids for several years, then returned, but that fact would not be apparent from my firm profile. The appearance to an outsider is likely that I’m a 15th year associate lol.

[Anonymous]

I could post a link to a 12th year associate’s bio but I’d embarrass him.

[Anonymous]

I have a colleague exactly as you describe. 2010 grad, at the same biglaw firm, but had 2 kids and took over 6 months off each time. It happens.

[Anonymous]

What would someone like that make? $400K base + bonus?

[Anonymous]

We have a ton of 10+ year associates. No push to leave, many have no aspirations of partner and are fantastic at their job.

[Anonymous]

Expect more of this. I’m a partner at a firm that doesn’t have an income partner option, and it’s not uncommon now for us to hold people at associate for 12+ years. We have a counsel designation if someone gets antsy, but it’s roughly the same thing. That’s not true at every firm—meaning of counsel varies wildly.

Look, it’s like everything else. Boomers made partner and they’re not going anywhere. Certainly not by their early 60s which was the basis for the 8-10 year timeline. Also, associates make bank with zero responsibility other than show up and do your job. No politics, no BD obligations, no strategy sessions, no trying to generate stats while also adhering to sacrosanct DEI obligations. Just do the work, and you can mostly do it from home now. My senior associates are mostly fine with that arrangement indefinitely, other than the 1 or 2 absolute maniacs who are really and truly built for it. It’s not hard to tell who is and who isn’t.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What would someone like that make? $400K base + bonus?

At a market paying firm 415 + 115 + discretionary bonus = 530-600 (probably closer to 600).

[Anonymous]

It was very common at my firm. Smart associates dodged getting “promoted” to counsel which often came with a pay cut.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It was very common at my firm. Smart associates dodged getting “promoted” to counsel which often came with a pay cut.

For the first three years after I made partner, my net compensation was lower than when I was an eighth-year associate, after all the costs, taxes, healthcare, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What would someone like that make? $400K base + bonus?

550 base and 450-500 bonus.