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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]In my experience "rockstar" doesn't quite mean that.  It's not the top performer, smartest, top performer, or most personable. It's who the partner decided to invest in.  Often due to connections, etc.  I didn't appreciate this when I started out. It sounds like it's still the same.[/quote]

This is the absolute truth.  Rockstars are chosen based on who the partners like the most or need the most because the associate has connections, or any other "soft" factor that gives them an edge past the merely super smart and hardworking regular associates.

If you're not one of the chosen few, you're going to hit the "up or out" ceiling and they will counsel you out just like they've done with hundreds of associates before you.[/quote]

Yes, agree mostly. But it’s not some kind of nefarious thing that some associates have a huge leg up because of all the people they know. Most associates don’t know anyone of value. Mostly, partners end up favoring a particular associate because they connect well, they have developed a good rapport over a few big projects, the associate has started learning that particular partners preferred work style, and they’ve fallen into a good back and forth that the associate is making the partner’s life easier and they get along. So the partner is just going to naturally keep sending work to that associate, so the relationship and apparent “rockstar” status grows ever stronger. Certain qualities may make this kind of relationship more likely to befall on some associates more than others, but lots of stellar associates never develop these relationships. A lot of it is just luck and timing. The right project comes in at the right time when an associate just wrapped something else up. An associate gets their office sited by the right partner at the right time. That kind of stuff. [/quote]

Or shares the same beloved hobby, or went to the same law school, or the associate's parent is accomplished, etc.[/quote]

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