Toxic partner — deal with it?
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Anonymous
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I work in a niche litigation area at a big law firm and my practice group is relatively small (less than 10 partners, 5 counsel, 25 associates or so). I’ve been in the group for 10 years and find the work fine (as good as I expect big law litigation can be). The cases are challenging and novel, constantly learning, and I have flexibility to manage my schedule (dinner with kids, no work on weekends). But there is one partner that is a terrible manager and a bit of a bully. She talks over people, dismisses people out of hand, makes things personal that are not, is unprofessional, creates a false sense of frenzy, the list could go on. Associates find it hard to work with her but she is in charge of assignments. I’m counsel and interact with her some, on a a much more limited basis than I used it. I’m fairly thick-skinned and she doesn’t generally bother me too much.
I’ll need to make a decision about partnership in the next two years. My concern is having this woman as a partner sounds miserable — at least a couple of partners agree with the traits described above but defer to her as it’s just not worth the fight and avoid her when they can. I’m not excited about having to engage with her on any regular basis (as I would need to do if a partner in the group). In fact, I would dread it. This doesn’t seem like a good reason to turn down partnership. It also doesn’t seem like a good way to spend 12-15 years (how much longer I plan to work before retiring). I get paid a lot more than I would anywhere else for the amount of time I work (and that would increase as partner), do I just grin and bear it? |
Anonymous
| If you can handle her now you will certainly be able to handle her when you’re a partner. Don’t let her derail your career path. |
Anonymous
+1 You’ll also have more equal status and more equipped to deal with her without a lower imbalance. |
Anonymous
| Power imbalance* |
Anonymous
| Why would you be engaging with her when you make partner? Unless and until you are promoted into a management role (head of your group, firm management committee) you won’t be engaging with this person anymore than you are currently. I think maybe you don’t understand what partnership entails. |
Anonymous
+1 I'm certain op can handle this partner even more adeptly when they are professional peers. |
Anonymous
OP here. It’s a small group that is extremely busy so matters are leanly staffed at the upper levels. The way our matters are staffed functionally requires most partners to collaborate across most clients to make sure the work is done. The partners I work closely with all interact with toxic partner described above (and feel similarly about her toxic traits, though also have more to say about her positive traits than I do). |
Anonymous
| I don’t understand how it would help to turn down the partnership. |
Anonymous
| You already have to deal with her - might as well get paid more to do it. |
Anonymous
The other options would be to go in-house (tech, pharma, manufacturer clients) or to a trade organization. Pay would likely be $200-300k, about half what I make now (and presumably a third/quarter of what I would make as a junior equity partner). |
Anonymous
| Something is probably going to suck at every job. How unbearable is this partner going to make it? It’s also probably worth making partner here and then deciding after that - you’re much more marketable as a partner than a senior associate and it’s not like you’ll be stuck in this firm forever if you don’t want to be. |
Anonymous
You're almost to the finish line and you're going to bail out NOW? Get your partnership and see what happens. If it's unbearable then go in-house. But in my experience most legal offices/firms have at least one difficult personality. Better the devil you know than the devil you don't. |
Anonymous
If you are looking to make partner but don't get to control who you will be interacting with, that means you don't have your own clients. Which means no one is paying you $800-$1.2m in the first year you're making partner. You're way off with your numbers. |
Anonymous
| Take the job. Also this post is tmi. I would know if it were me if it were me. (It’s not me, I’m not an attorney though I play one on the internet) |
Anonymous
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How old is she? At all close to retiring? We had a toxic partner at my firm and he got told to find another job. He worked there for ... five (?) years and kept trying and failing to make equity partner, and then got told it would never happen, and he should find somewhere else. Might she get counseled out any time soon?
Where I work, "being able to play and interact well with others" is actually valued and more than one Difficult Partner has been told to leave, even if they were bringing in good money. (One partner was banned from working with first year associates and told to change OR he'd get told to leave, and he changed for the better.) |