How likely is it to make partner at biglaw?
Posted: Mon Sep 15, 2014 6:54 pm
Generally, how likely is it to make partner at biglaw?
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Biglaw_Associate_V20 wrote:between 0 and 20 percent, depending on the firm
seems high to meAnonymous User wrote:if you bill out 2000+ hours for 10 years, go to every networking event, and become best friends with the largest clients in your practice group ~30%
Well, I've heard numbers like 10% thrown around. So assume that 1/3 of the people quit by year 5. I'd bet another bunch leave before year 10. So if you're one of 1/2 the people left, your odds are like 20% now, and add to that doing all the right things (assuming the quality of the work is there), I can imagine bumping that 20% up a few more points. So at least 25% if not 30Biglaw_Associate_V20 wrote:seems high to meAnonymous User wrote:if you bill out 2000+ hours for 10 years, go to every networking event, and become best friends with the largest clients in your practice group ~30%
Right, there is plenty of voluntary attrition, so if you were just positive you wouldn't leave your odds are a little higher. But that leads to the question of why are so many people voluntary removing themselves from an opportunity to make $700k+.JamMasterJ wrote:Well, I've heard numbers like 10% thrown around. So assume that 1/3 of the people quit by year 5. I'd bet another bunch leave before year 10. So if you're one of 1/2 the people left, your odds are like 20% now, and add to that doing all the right things (assuming the quality of the work is there), I can imagine bumping that 20% up a few more points. So at least 25% if not 30Biglaw_Associate_V20 wrote:seems high to meAnonymous User wrote:if you bill out 2000+ hours for 10 years, go to every networking event, and become best friends with the largest clients in your practice group ~30%
Marrying a baroness and taking up pre-clovis art collecting as a vocation has to be near the top of the list.wert3813 wrote:Right, there is plenty of voluntary attrition, so if you were just positive you wouldn't leave your odds are a little higher. But that leads to the question of why are so many people voluntary removing themselves from an opportunity to make $700k+.JamMasterJ wrote:Well, I've heard numbers like 10% thrown around. So assume that 1/3 of the people quit by year 5. I'd bet another bunch leave before year 10. So if you're one of 1/2 the people left, your odds are like 20% now, and add to that doing all the right things (assuming the quality of the work is there), I can imagine bumping that 20% up a few more points. So at least 25% if not 30Biglaw_Associate_V20 wrote:seems high to meAnonymous User wrote:if you bill out 2000+ hours for 10 years, go to every networking event, and become best friends with the largest clients in your practice group ~30%
From what I've gathered it seems to be some combination of:wert3813 wrote:Right, there is plenty of voluntary attrition, so if you were just positive you wouldn't leave your odds are a little higher. But that leads to the question of why are so many people voluntary removing themselves from an opportunity to make $700k+.JamMasterJ wrote:Well, I've heard numbers like 10% thrown around. So assume that 1/3 of the people quit by year 5. I'd bet another bunch leave before year 10. So if you're one of 1/2 the people left, your odds are like 20% now, and add to that doing all the right things (assuming the quality of the work is there), I can imagine bumping that 20% up a few more points. So at least 25% if not 30Biglaw_Associate_V20 wrote:seems high to meAnonymous User wrote:if you bill out 2000+ hours for 10 years, go to every networking event, and become best friends with the largest clients in your practice group ~30%
5. They thought they wanted to be at a firm (even after their SA) because they wanted the prestige, money, etc. But after 2-3 years they felt completely burned out, and that they had wasted multiple years of their life. They decide to leave and take a big pay cuts despite still owing over 100k in student loans because they need to "get their life back." I know many people who fit this description.SLS_AMG wrote: From what I've gathered it seems to be some combination of:
1. Associates realizing they're unlikely to make partner even if they do stick it out, and their prime years as a lateral target may have passed around the 4-7 year mark
2. Associates want to have a family, and they realize that making partner is, as has been described many times before, the equivalent of winning a pie eating contest where the grand prize is more pie (i.e., more work)
3. They can often lateral out with cushy six-figure salaries and reasonable working hours (related to 1 and 2)
4. They never wanted to be at a firm in the first place and just used it to pay off debts
I'm not sure that's really true—at the very least, a lot of BigLaw partners aren't classic extroverts.Nomo wrote:Depends somewhat on the firm. But regardless, certain traits seem to be key. You need to be an extroverted people-person.
Isn't that declaring yourself king of your moms closet?911 crisis actor wrote:#Lifehack: If you start your own firm and charge biglaw rates, you'll have made partner.
nah, just don't calling a sockpuppet a girlfriend is all911 crisis actor wrote:Wow, sounds like someone's mad for not having made partner
(not Manti Teo)Anonymous User wrote:nah, just don't calling a sockpuppet a girlfriend is all911 crisis actor wrote:Wow, sounds like someone's mad for not having made partner
http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=man ... tedIndex=0Biglaw_Associate_V20 wrote:(not Manti Teo)Anonymous User wrote:nah, just don't calling a sockpuppet a girlfriend is all911 crisis actor wrote:Wow, sounds like someone's mad for not having made partner
That's fair. Though I would at least say that I don't see any younger partners who are obvious introverts.Frayed Knot wrote:I'm not sure that's really true—at the very least, a lot of BigLaw partners aren't classic extroverts.Nomo wrote:Depends somewhat on the firm. But regardless, certain traits seem to be key. You need to be an extroverted people-person.
I think it's true that you need to be able to relate to people in some way. That could be traditional life-of-the-party, work-the-room extroversion, but it could also be an ability to maintain a network of contacts via email/build a reputation through work, etc.