Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What about becoming a non-equity partner ? Is a book of business required ?

Yes, a book of business is required to be any sort of partner. In fact, having a book of business / brining in new clients is the primary thing which determines who makes partner and who doesn’t.

That is not true anymore. Partner class sizes have ballooned since Covid; at most firms, I would wager that at least half of the associates who stick around get promoted around years 8-10. And it’s extremely common now to see government line attorneys 8–10 years out of law school lateral to firms as partners.

That said, once you’re a counsel it’s more difficult to move up, especially for government laterals (home-grown lawyers may have a better shot).

Most of these “partners” are non-equity and will never become equity, which does require a book.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What about becoming a non-equity partner ? Is a book of business required ?

Yes, a book of business is required to be any sort of partner. In fact, having a book of business / brining in new clients is the primary thing which determines who makes partner and who doesn’t.

This is not always the case. There are absolutely BigLaw partners who got there just by being there for a while and billing on preexisting firm clients or those brought in by someone else. They may not be equity partners, but they're there.

Anonymous wrote:What about becoming a non-equity partner ? Is a book of business required ?

Yes, a book of business is required to be any sort of partner. In fact, having a book of business / brining in new clients is the primary thing which determines who makes partner and who doesn’t.

As far as job security, people who do good work but don't bring in business can still be valuable to the firm, of course. People get stuck doing everyone's work that they don't want to do themselves and then then run out of time or energy to "market" bc they're working tons of hours on actual work, not schmoozing. You're also valuable if you bring in business, despite doing less actual work. There is a place for multiple types of people, but the ones with a lot of leverage, unsurprisingly, are the ones who can leave and take a large source of revenue, hurting the firm's profits and making others question why that partner left.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If he's feeling up for it, he can just ask them if he can use the title of partner and become a non equity partner. Same job but different title. Also, continue to work on developing business. It's not too late to be doing that. Establish a rapport w the clients he works with now -- don't just be the brief writer behind the scenes that the clients don't know.

This should already be a discussion in annual reviews; otherwise he really doesn’t know how to navigate biglaw…

He can tell them he thinks the title of "partner" will make him more marketable (which it actually might, despite it just being a title).

He’s not going to make partner.

Anonymous wrote:If he's feeling up for it, he can just ask them if he can use the title of partner and become a non equity partner. Same job but different title. Also, continue to work on developing business. It's not too late to be doing that. Establish a rapport w the clients he works with now -- don't just be the brief writer behind the scenes that the clients don't know.

This should already be a discussion in annual reviews; otherwise he really doesn’t know how to navigate biglaw…

If he's feeling up for it, he can just ask them if he can use the title of partner and become a non equity partner. Same job but different title. Also, continue to work on developing business. It's not too late to be doing that. Establish a rapport w the clients he works with now -- don't just be the brief writer behind the scenes that the clients don't know.

I understand his frustration. These days firms promote most associates to non-equity partner at years 8-10. So he’s technically lower on the total pole than lawyers who graduated in 2014.

That said, his only realistic chance of becoming a (non-equity) partner is to lateral to another firm that offers the title as an incentive. But if he is happy with his job he’d be stupid to leave a good situation over a title. His current form isn’t going to promote him without a book of business, and if hasn’t figured it out at age 51 he probably isn’t ever going to make it.

The only times I’ve seen a counsel move up without a book is when all the partners in a group depart to another firm and the old firm needs to pretend like they still have that practice.

Anonymous wrote:What about becoming a non-equity partner ? Is a book of business required ?

I don't think of a non-equity partner as a real partner. They aren't sharing in the profits of the firm, and aren't sharing the risk. That is what a partner is. I've seen the title given to associates a firm expects to make a full partner but who need training wheels on for a bit while they prove their ability to make rain, and I've also seen it given to workhorse lawyers who do great work and bill crazy hours but who will never bring in clients -- and the firm wants to bill for all of those hours at the partner rate. Sounds like your DH isn't either of those scenarios. Bottom line, a non-equity partner is a salaried position, like counsel. I think of it as a vanity title, but I'm sure some non-eq partners here will think differently...

You guys should be in a great position financially. Six years as an associate would probably be about $200K per year average comp. Another 12 years as a govt attorney with probably about $160K per year average comp plus another 6 years as counsel with probably $400K average comp. If I were him I would just "coast" into retirement to the extent one can do so in biglaw. You guys probably have enough money to comfortably retire now or at most in a few years.

I have known a few long-time counsel who eventually made partner in their mid to late 40s because the partners for whom they worked were getting older and were hoping to reward them for their past efforts and give clients the impression that there would be continuity in service when they retired. In these instances, the counsel weren't pushing for a promotion, but were initially happy to go along with being elevated to partner.

In each case, the former counsel only lasted a few years as partners before leaving the firm entirely. They weren't used to working harder, much less being expected by other partners within the firm to generate business. There were other partners in the firm who were service partners rather than big rainmakers, but these partners were more used to the grind and willing to step it up when generating business became important.

In retrospect, they would have been better off just remaining counsel, where they had a niche that worked for them. If you come from government and become a partner in your 50s, that's because a firm has a reasonable expectation that you're going to quickly attract clients. On the other hand, if you've just been counsel or of counsel at a firm for years, it's less likely that you've had the experience or exposure to thrive in a partner role. Yes, it's a fancier title and more money, but it's also more exhausting (law firm associates often claim they'd like to know more about the inner workings of their firms, but once you're a partner you may wish you knew less, because there tends to be so much internal jockeying and competition for status and compensation).

Having said all that, however, OP's spouse should do what he can to maintain as many professional contacts as possible outside the firm. It he hits 55, and the partners whose work he's been servicing leave or retire, he may quickly be treated as expendable, regardless of whether the firm traditionally has treated counsel well. Assuming he wants to keep working, he'd at least want to have the ability to lateral into a similar counsel role at another firm or potentially even go back into government.

Anonymous wrote:Are you sure you want him to be made partner? What is the firm's buy in requirement? At 51, that may not be a great deal for you all, depending on when he wants to retire.

Not this again.

He's 51 and he doesn't have a book of business.

He's likely not going to make partner unless he brings in his own clients, which doesn't seem likely to happen given what you are saying.

What you can do is help co-run the household in a way that you guys are saving and have an emergency fund in case he loses his job.

He's not gonna be the kind of husband who makes bank as a biglaw partner. Sorry.

OP: Are you comfortable naming the general practice area of your spouse's work ?