Top Law Schools

What do they look for when promoting people to partner? Are the hours still horrible as a partner or can you just hit Europe for a few weeks whenever?

Worry about making associate first.

Based on what I saw this summer:

Partners work very hard, many hours per week, harder (I think) than associates. On the bright side, however, they have more ability to plan their schedule.

The partner sets the schedule for the entire team, and all the team members have to comply as best they can (canceling other plans if necessary). Being able to set the schedule means that the partner (maybe not always, but often) can plan around vacations and other plans, while the associate(s) on the team generally just have to plan everything around work.