What percentage of a graduating class at T14 will make Equity Partner? Forum

[gaddockteeg]

Random thought.

If you had to guess, what percentage of a graduating class at a T14 will make equity partner at any NLJ350 firm?

What percentage at T20?
What percentage at T6?


Obviously there's a big difference within each of those bands (e.g. Georgetown vs Boalt) but I'm just curious on what you guys think. I'm as much interested in the actual as TLS's perception of answer.

[favabeansoup]

Personally I think biglaw partnership systems are is way too varied to make generalized guesses like this. Plus, you have equity vs. non-equity partner status so hard to always tell.

I really don't think it should be a question of "t14 percentages v. T20" etc. Take percentage of biglaw first year associates who will make partner. (A first year associate is a first year associate, whether from Georgetown, Harvard, Michigan, or beyond T14). It's small, really small. Whether because of up or out systems, or people burn out, or in house offers, or people taking "of consul" non-partnership tracks, hard to tell.

A partner recently told me that trying to become partner is like a pie eating contest where the reward is you get to eat more pie. (pie = lots of work) It's not like everyone's end goal is to become equity partner, lots of people have different career objectives. Some people are more than happy making less money to be able to spend more time with family at that level.

Edit: Plus equity partner of what? Are we assuming biglaw or are we including partners of smaller-medium size firms (that people will often lateral too for better work-life balance)

Edit 2: B/c I like googling stuff http://abovethelaw.com/2015/08/which-bi ... rtnership/

[Anonymous User]

Probably 2-3%. Barely half will ever work in big law, and barely half want to. Among those who do, it is very difficult to make partner, but among those who want it badly enough, it's easier than I thought because most don't want to, but still very low. I'd guess a majority of associates don't want to stay in it long enough to be equity partner (not going in, at the 2nd or 3rd year mark), and that about 20-25% of those who do make it.

[SamuelDanforth]

Edit 2: B/c I like googling stuff http://abovethelaw.com/2015/08/which-bi ... rtnership/

The methodology of that ranking is shockingly bad. By their analysis, if you have a five year partner track, 100 associates, and 100% of associates make partner, then you score 20%. If you have a 10 year partner track, 100 associates, and 100% of associates make partner, then you score 10%. Your chances are exactly the same in both scenarios, but the ranking would lead you to believe otherwise.

What you want to know is what percentage of each associate *class* makes partner.

[PMan99]

NLJ350 is so broad that the chances are actually probably decent for someone who really wants to gun for partner. It's also so broad that the lower end firms in that grouping are going to have equity partners making less than senior associates at the higher end.

[zot1]

0.

[banjo]

I think I saw this on Leiter first (Chicago's on top of course), but here's some data:
http://witnesseth.typepad.com/blog/2012 ... kings.html

[ballouttacontrol]

I would wager pretty high if u count down to smaller 50-100 person or so firms, but I'm not sure where nlj cuts off. Also it might make more sense to be at a smaller 10 person firm than a big amlaw200 firm. Just depends on the person and financials. But, of the people that want it, it sure seems like a lot of people find partnership somewhere or other.

[DELG]

Does anyone on the other side of this choice really think "man if I had just gone to Boalt instead of GULC I would be so much closer to my dream of equity partnership"