Just found out I made partner in biglaw
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Anonymous
This is actually not that far off from the truth. OP was a good little billing machine and kept his sponsoring partner's clients happy. Maybe, just maybe, OP's partner will give him scraps to build a book in a couple more years. The key to REAL MONEY, as others have pointed out, is for OP to develop his own book of business. However, he can't do that if his sponsoring partner is going to keep his nose to the grindstone (OP is a service partner after all). OP is going to need to spend 10+ hours a week (on his own time) writing articles, giving presentations and attending conferences (with in-house counsel) to develop his own book. This will put a strain on his marriage and his health. Enjoy the moment OP, then get back to billing. |
Anonymous
| the underemployed underachievers really came out of the woodwork here. |
Anonymous
Shrug. Believe that if you want. Tell everyone how it's not mostly accurate.... |
Anonymous
What you present is a possibility, but it is also possible that OP has found herself (through skill, hard work, and luck) in a very enviable position. If she is able to sufficiently impress the major client so that she can control that business when the current rainmaker slows down, she will find herself with a major book -- which comes with major comp -- without ever having to come up with the original origination. There is no guarantee this will occur, but it also isn't far fetched. It is also possible that they rainmaker will use some of his juice to make sure that OP starts getting some of the origination credit, even when he would be in a position to control it. There is definitely no guarantee this will occur, and plenty of partners want to make every last dime they can even if they have made millions over many years, but I have seen situations where a rainmaker has been willing to cede some credit to help the more junior person. |
Anonymous
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Op here. It would be great to inherit business, but I’m fine being a service partner and not spending hours of my free time networking, etc. if that means I get pushed out in 10-15 years then I’ll live.
FWIW, I bill about 2000 hours a year and don’t think I’m working sweatshop hours by any means. Rainmaker uses me to free him up to do more work and fly around the country doing nonbillable business development. Not sure whether this is atypical for lawyers with big books, but he’s spending much more time on work-related activity than anyone else I’ve seen. |
Anonymous
| Eh, f**k the haters. Well done, OP. It sounds like you have a good head on your shoulders, and you're staying grounded and realistic about the future. Make hay while the sun shines, as they say. |
Anonymous
| Not sure if your firm has this but my old firm had a spreadsheet they gave to all of the partners that listed all of the metrics for each individual partner (origination credit, billable hours, realization rate, etc.) along with the comp for each partner. One partner was an idiot and left this on the shared drive so I got to see it one day. It was interesting to see the relative standing of each of the partners in terms of how much they got paid and how much business they actually had. Anyways, if your firm has a sheet like that you'll be able to see whether other partners are spending time on work-related activity as well. |
Anonymous
Thanks OP. You serve in exactly the capacity that I thought you did. It also sounds like your sponsoring partner is spending the time you freed up for him trying to be even more productive, rather than just leveraging your hard work by going on vacation or slowing down. One additional piece of advice - ask your sponsoring partner to accompany him on client pitches so that you know how to do them well. You can always bill existing clients from your hotel room, the plane, etc.... for the work you're doing for them (i.e. you don't need to stay behind in the office). |
Anonymous
Extremely valuable intelligence for an associate. That way the associate doesn't waste time doing work for partners who are of little career advancement potential. |
Anonymous
To be honest, I already had a feel for who the important partners were in the group and they were the ones that always had an abundance of work. There was maybe one or two guys I was surprised about that didn't have as much work as I thought based on how arrogant they were. At the end of the day, my practice group had nothing to offer for career advancement...every associate I knew above and below me in my practice group is gone and I don't think they have made a new partner in the corporate group in years. |
Anonymous
I'd be careful with this. You can see who has checked out and viewed a document. |
Anonymous
I'm long gone so it doesn't matter for me. OP is now a partner so she should have access to the type of information I'm referring to if it exists. |
Anonymous
| OP's not a partner yet |
Anonymous
| I see now why lawyering a slimy, sleazy profession (if you can call it that). All you fuc**rs want to talk about is $$ and no less on a holiday weekend. BTW....I'm not the PP who called OP a loser....but obviously in agreement with the PP. |
Anonymous
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Being elected partner is about much more than the money. It's the validation and approbation of your peers and mentors, it's the culmination of decades of hard work, and it's the achievement of a major professional goal.
That you reduce it to money actually says more about you than the OP, who didn't even mention money in his/her post. |