#171: You’re (Finally) A Law Firm Partner – Now What?

[00:00:50] Welcome to the Life & Law Podcast. This is your host, Heather Moulder. I remember so clearly this moment, and it was about a month and a half after I had been promoted to partnership, of sitting down at my office desk and thinking “oh my gosh, what’s going on? What have I gotten myself into? Why did I even want this? This feels super overwhelming.”

I am sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but when you get promoted to partnership, everything is not hunky dory. Everything doesn’t suddenly come your way. And I hate to break it to you, but the rules change. And that is actually what we’re going to get into today. Because it doesn’t have to feel or be so overwhelming. It doesn’t have to be so scary. It doesn’t have to be quite so hard.

Now, it is going to challenge you, I’m not going to lie. But every new level is more challenging. And let’s be honest, you want that, right? You want to grow, you want to develop, you want to get better. And I that’s what part of this is about. So don’t let this scare you away. What I want to do is go through the top ten things that I have found, both through my own experience and from my former colleagues experiences, friends experiences, and my clients experiences, around:

• What tends to change after you make partner?
• What is expected of you that is new and different?
• How do people treat you and see you differently?
• What are you needing to be thinking about and doing?

That’s kind of the gamut of what we’re about to cover. So let’s get right into it.

#1: It’s not just about the billables any more.

Number one, when it comes to the numbers, up until this point, you’ve primarily been focused on billables. You might have been focused on collections somewhat, and I hope you have because it makes this a little bit easier. But not everybody really does. A lot of us are really focused and over focused, in my personal opinion, just on billables.

I hate to break it to you, but it’s no longer just about that. Collections matter more and your originations are going to start matter.

So originations, and it may be called something different at your firm. At my firm, that’s what it was called. That’s what a lot of lawyers think of it. But this is your book of business.

What is the business that you’re actually bringing in that you are working on or other people are working on? What is the business that you have helped to bring in if you have done it as part of a group? And are you getting credit for that?

It is really important to you as a partner to start paying more attention to what you get credit for and why, and making the case for yourself to get more origination credit, because originations really do matter. And this brings me into number two.

#2: Business development is no longer a nice-to-see, but a must-do.

And let me tell you, it’s not about doing something. It’s about doing something that actually works.

Up until the point you make partner, a lot of times what I see is everybody wants you to be doing something. You’re networking. Great! You’re going to pitch. Great! You’re doing all these things. But they’re really not paying that much attention to whether it’s effective, to whether it’s at the right place. There’s not a lot of questions around that.

That is going to change as a partner because they’re going to start paying more attention to what are you doing that’s actually getting results. Because you’re spending time, you’re probably spending some of the firm’s money for some of your business development activities, and you’re going to want to make sure you see a return on the investment.

It’s not enough to be telling them, well, I’m doing all these things. They want to see actual results. They don’t care that you’re doing all these things. They care about you actually getting results from all the things. And that is a big difference. And that’s a big difference that you really need to get into your head, because if you don’t, then it’s really hard to bring in as much as you possibly could.

This brings me to number three, and these two things go hand in hand. And I’ve talked about this a little bit earlier. I think it was two weeks ago. So if you didn’t hear me talking about the mindset traps, you want to go back and listen to that, because this next one relates directly to a mindset trap that I see happening all the time that really impacts in a negative way your ability to generate new business, to grow your firm.

#3: You need to understand that you’re running an actual business.

Your book of business. Regardless of whether you’re in a tiny firm or a midsize firm or a big firm, that is your business. Which means you need to understand the law firm’s economics and your own economics versus the expectations.

And that’s what I got into when it comes to thinking about your business development and ensuring that you’re not just doing things for the sake of doing them. You want to be doing the right things. You want to be really strategic, okay? Not just going and kind of scattershot. I see this a lot in a very scattershot, haphazard manner with not enough thought and intention around what it is you’re doing, why you’re doing it, and whether it all makes sense together. All right? Because, again, you need to see real results.

Onto item number four…

#4: Be a team player.

You’re going to be expected to play ball and play nice a lot more than you were before.

This is about, number one, initially delegating more, having people that you give work to, managing people, leading people.

It also goes to your ability to collaborate with your peers, with fellow partners, and cross selling, being willing to sell other people. And then that usually gets reciprocated. When you start doing that for others, others start doing that for you.

Now, this means being very collaborative and cross selling, yes, but it also means, you know, not always needing to be right. There are sometimes when it comes to, especially when we’re giving advice that is more business oriented or advice where there’s not a clear answer, where you are not always going to agree with other partners. And it doesn’t mean you don’t express your disagreement, but it does mean you want to do it in a careful and intentional manner, because you need to be seen in a certain way, and you want to be seen in a certain way. You do not always have to be right or get your way. You do need to keep clients in the firm safe, but you also want to make sure you’re doing it in a politically appropriate way.

And I hate to say that political stuff, we lawyers often don’t like the political aspect, but the fact of the matter is, law firms are made up of people. It gets political. So be aware and know you are, to some extent, going to have to play the game as a partner. It is just part of moving up in any organization, not just law firms.

The other thing I would say is this means that it’s best to collaborate as opposed to trying to build your own little fiefdom. Now, I’m not saying you can’t go solo and build your own practice and have your own people, but you don’t want to be seen within the firm as:

• never letting your resources get utilized;
• the person who always, you know, takes all the origination credit and never gives any away.

That’s part of playing ball as well. You don’t want to overshare and do it when it doesn’t make sense, but you do want to be that person that is thought of as the team player. Right?

And so, although we all see those partners that build their own fiefdoms and live that way, and yes, they can be, quote unquote successful, but I can tell you it does tend to bite them at some point. It’s nice to have people in your firm who will have your back and you’re not going to have that when you do it that way. So what I’m saying is you’re going to be more successful in the long term by collaborating, by cross selling, by delegating, by not having your own little fiefdom, by sharing, by being a team player.

#5: You’re going to be expected to manage and lead a lot more; what this really means is the buck stops with you.

You need to take on that mindset.

Because when you are overseeing work, you are now a partner, and it is on you. You can’t just give away stuff to people and then expect it to get done and not expect it to get back to you if something goes wrong. So it is on you to follow up, it is on you to review, it is on you to ensure it gets done and gets done correctly. And that is something that a lot of people, up until they’re partners, don’t really have to deal with even when they’re managing other people.

Because guess what? Ultimately, there’s often the partner above you when you’re a senior associate, who’s involved and taking that on. Well, you’re now in that new place. You are the partner. And even if other senior partners are involved, you are still a partner. So you are expected with the buck stopping with you, by the law firm, by those under you, by your colleagues, by everyone, and frankly, by your clients.

It is a very different mindset that you need to take on and be prepared for so that you can be really proactive and get in front of things and not let stuff get away from you. All right.

#6: Expect relationships to change (for those you manage).

So when you’re just a senior associate managing another associate who might be a couple of years below you (or maybe a peer), it’s pretty easy to be in the friend zone.

As soon as you are a partner and you’re overseeing them, you’re not as much in the friend zone anymore. It is going to change your relationship. Now this somewhat.

There’s a caveat here. It really is dependent on you, your personality, how you tend to manage, and also the person that we’re talking about here. But I guarantee there will be people that will have trouble with this and it can really wreak havoc on relationships. So you want to be ready, okay?

You want to ensure that you’re upfront, that you’re honest, that you are giving constructive feedback in the most constructive, loving, caring way possible, but real. Because hiding the ball and not saying anything actually will get you in more trouble in the long run and will hurt that relationship even more. You’ve got to be willing to deliver bad news even to those who you consider a friend. And you need to be okay with them no longer seeing you in the same light and not having you in the same friend zone.

Maybe you move into more of a mentor relationship, which means they may not treat you quite the same as before. You need to be prepared for this because it will happen.

#7: If you’re equity, you need to be ready to pay money to the firm.

Which most of us know, but do you know how much? If you’re not a partner yet and you’re expecting to get promoted soon, you are going to want to ask, what’s the buy in? What’s the setup for that?

Most law firms have programs, have like a loan program with their lender where you get a very low interest rate loan for payment of that buy in, but be ready for that. And then the next thing is because you’re paying in means they can come to you later if there are leaner times, if there is a necessary pay in. So read your partnership contract very carefully.

A lot of partners I’ve known just sign it and then get surprised a couple years later when something comes up and they didn’t realize they’re on the hook for it, or they didn’t think something through, or when they leave the firm, they don’t get their money back immediately. It takes time. It took me two years to get my money, my pay-in back from my firm. I was ready for it, and I planned appropriately for it because I knew it was coming, because it was in the partnership contract.

But I remember people leaving that same firm years earlier, very upset when they didn’t get their money back immediately. And it’s like, dude, it’s in the partnership contract. Did you not read this? You know, so read that contract and understand what it means and ask questions if you don’t understand.

Now, this leads me into the next one.

#8: Expect to make less during lean years (even if you over-achieved).

Lean years firm-wide means making less, even if your practice did great. And this is something that people don’t love to hear, but it’s true, especially if you’re an equity partner.

In fact, this is primarily for equity partners.

This may not feel fair, but think about it. You have paid in. You are there to assist the firm when that happens. That’s part of the, the process of being equity, right? You are there to partake when the firm does better. The firm is better able to pay you, even when your practice area is down. So there is a reciprocity here.

I’ve known plenty of attorneys over the years who’ve had an amazing year and yet not made any more money despite them having an amazing year. Because the firm overall is down, because of the economy being down. And it only, you know, most practice areas being down. That can and does happen, and it may not ever happen to you, but understand it might.

It’s part of the deal.

And this, again, goes to firm economics. You need to understand the economics of your firm as a whole, because there are people that do not generate revenue who still have to get paid.

There are expenses that the firm has.

And frankly, the people who are experiencing the downturn are still getting paid something. They need to be, just like you would need and want to be if things aren’t going as well for you one particular year, so there may be less leftover.

This is one that I see a lot of people get just blindsided by when it happens. Don’t be blindsided by it. Understand, and by the way, this is another reason to understand the firm. You know, the shareholder or partner contract, understand the policies, understand how this works, because different firms do it very differently.

#9: You’re going to get sent less work by other people.

Even when it comes to those who considered you their absolute go-to for years and years and years.

Now, this doesn’t always happen immediately. I think most people find that some people very immediately stop giving them much work. Others, it happens over time. So over the first twelve to 18 months, to two years max, you are going to start getting less and less work because the expectation is going to be that you are going out and originating your own business.

Now, most law firms and most lawyers do not expect that immediately, obviously, but there is something psychologically that seems to happen and they feel like, oh, you’re now in this partner realm, you are not in the right space. You were handling all the senior associate stuff. Well, somebody else needs to do that now. I’m the partner on this.

Even when you might have been doing most of the work, this can happen. And again, it doesn’t happen with everyone. But do not, do not be surprised when it does because it will with some people.

The other thing I would say here is go talk to people where you get a lot of your work. Talk through how this is going to work. Talk through, you know, make sure, make your case, sell them on why you still bring value.

Make your case for what you can do for them as a partner now and taking some off of their plate and allowing them to go run with it with, on other things and getting other business in. Right. This is an opportunity for you as well to step up, take advantage of it.

Final thing…

#10: You’re going to be expected to do more for the firm.

More committees, maybe recruiting, some management things – that type of thing.

This means you are likely going to have more administrative burdens than you did before. So do not be surprised by that.

And note, as you grow your own book of business, you’re also going to have a little bit more admin. Just by the nature of what it takes to bring business in the intake process, billing, collection, reviewing bills, that kind of a thing. You’re going to have to start doing that.

You’re also going to start managing more people, as I said earlier. Well, that brings some administrative and other headaches as well. It takes more time out.

So something that I find a lot of new partners really struggle with, and this is usually the first, like three years, that first year, not so much. It’s usually that second and third year as they start to bring in some business and start to grow kind of their own team, is how much non billable time it takes them to do some of these other things. Because you can’t bill for everything, right? And so you want to be prepared for that and understand that.

Let’s say, you know, you want to have 2400 hours in, in a year, which I think is a little high, but I have a client who wants to have 2400 hours in, and so that is her goal. That 2400 is not billable. She’s a partner. I think the billable is like 1900, and then the other 500 is, you know, leadership and management activities, administrative activities, firm committee type stuff, and the ever-present business development.

All right, so hopefully this gave you a good sense of what to expect once you make law firm partner.

I would just say for any of you out there who are young partners or expect to be made a partner here in the next couple of months who are trying or wanting to start to build a seven figure or more law practice, but do not want to sacrifice yourself in the process of building that practice, I invite you to apply for my mastermind ELEVATE.

Elevate is my once per year mastermind experience tailored to you and your law practice, meaning: you get customized strategies, you get peer support, and you get expert guidance that’s specifically designed to help you build your practice in a way that supports the life you actually want to live.

Doors are currently open, but not for long, and this will not be offered again until Fall of 2025. So if you are at all interested, please check it out and apply. All right, that’s it for today. Bye for now.