New partner at boutique law firm

[Anonymous]

My spouse recently made partner at a boutique law firm. He is really struggling with the need to bring in work (he loves actually doing the work). I can understand it’s stressful but realistically it seems like it would take time to find your own clients. If you or your spouse did this, how long did it take you to feel established with your own clients?

[Anonymous]

The most successful people are rainmakers. I'm not in law - in finance - but I always remember a young guy saying to me years ago, "I love financial planning; it's my passion and it's what I'm great at. My challenge is finding clients."

I was like, no sh**. That's a whole job, man. Being good at the work is a given.

[Anonymous]

This is why i didn’t go into provide practice. I’m not great at sales, and small firms require you to be everything to everyone.

[Anonymous]

Does the boutique have enough of a reputation to bring in clients or are you using boutique code for small? If it's the former, I'd say do a good job and stick with it. If it's the latter, he needs to really get out there and hustle. I spent time as an associate at a small firm and the partners who were successful all came with their own books.

[Anonymous]

OP here, not a lawyer so I don’t really know but I think it’s a boutique. Definitely not BigLaw but well respected, I think. He’s definitely doing tons of business development m, I am just curious at what point people sort of feel like they are more settled. Or I guess realize you suck at bringing in clients and decide to do something else.

[Anonymous]

My DH is in big law, transitioned over after a decade in government.

He was brought in as a partner-track counsel. He negotiated a guaranteed bonus for 2 years, with the idea that by the 3rd year he would be doing well. By the second year he realized that the firm was not a good fit for him and left to another firm.

He is still at the other firm, and started developing a good group of his own clients within 2 years, made equity partner his 3rd year because he had a solid book of business.

So you get a couple of years of runway to build a book of business but then if you don’t, they will likely let you go. Or you become a service partner if another partner has enough work, but that’s becoming less common becasue they don’t have to make you partner (or at least an equity partner - they might meet you as an income partner).

My DH is pretty focused about all parts of his job - he cares a lot about doing good legal work (at the point it’s making sure his team produces amazing work), being super responsive to clients, pitching new clients, and paying attention to all his clients. He also cares a lot about getting bills out on time and managing client budgets. Being a successful partner is only partly about being a good lawyer.

[Anonymous]

OP, I think it depends on the firm. I'm a managing partner at a boutique firm, and there is not a set requirement for bringing in new business. We have plenty of business and several partners who are more service partners. I also think generating business from current clients is just as important (if not more important) that bringing in new business. The structure of the firm also plays a part in how meaningful bringing in new business is to the firm. I think it's more important in a true partnership model versus a professional corporation model.

[Anonymous]

My dh is a biglaw partner in a niche practice area. He spends tons of time on bd as well as billing a high number of hours and still always feels like he’s on the verge of losing status because it’s so stressful and hard to get business. He’s been a partner for 10 years and until 4 years ago worked under the same senior partner since he started working 18 years ago as a first year, but that partner was fired just before the pandemic because he wasn’t bringing in enough business according to the firm and was too expensive for them.
It’s a stressful balance, especially if your husband’s firm gives credit for relationships already established with clients and not new people who get new cases with the established clients. That has been hard for my dh because he does a lot of work for big firm clients and brings in money but has a hard time getting the “credit”.