Law Firm Partnership – Implementing a Lawyer Career Advancement Program

By John W. Olmstead, MBA, Ph.D., CMC

The world and the legal profession have changed greatly since 2019 and the COVID-19 pandemic that followed. Remote work has become common place, and an even higher premium is being placed on work-life balance. Post-COVID-19, one of the innovations of the pandemic, the adoption of remote work, is set to attract the best talent to law firms. This was reported in a recent survey by legal recruiter Major, Lindsey & Africa, which found that most lawyers from the incoming generation are looking for an opportunity to work remotely, even if it’s just some of the time.

According to a recent survey conducted by FlexJobs survey, 97 percent of workers want some form of remote work post-pandemic, with 58 percent preferring to be full-time remote and 39 percent opting for a hybrid work environment.

“The data outlined in this report suggests that even during the most challenging of circumstances, remote work provides important benefits across the board,” said Sara Sutton, Founder and CEO of FlexJobs. “From improved mental health and better work-life balance to increased job satisfaction, the majority of employees have responded very favorably to remote work, with many now strongly inclined to pursue a permanent remote career. As we consider the future of work, it’s clear remote work policies will be critical in shaping the modern workplace,” Sutton concluded.

Law firms of all sizes are finding that hiring and retaining talent – attorneys and staff – is becoming increasingly difficult and is their number one strategic challenge and even more concerning than the development of business. Large and small law firms are implementing permanent remote work as well as other creative talent management policies in various forms.

Remote work and the Post Covid-19 attitude toward work is creating even more challenges for law firms looking to hire and retain associates. Large and small firms alike are finding that it is taking months to hire and fill associate positions. In addition to having to increase salaries, some firms for the first time ever are having to offer signing bonuses, relocation bonus to move across metropolitan areas, and remote work options. I do not expect any relief in the near future.

Successful law firms must attract both clients and talent in order to be successful. Many law firms are desperate and other law firms may try to poach your lawyers and staff with better pay, other incentives, or flexibility. You need to review all of your benefits and policies as well as compensation to make sure that you are more than just competitive – you need to be on the cutting edge and ahead of the pack. Employees now expect more flexibility, remote work, etc. than ever before.

Talent Management

Years ago, I attended a law firm partnership meeting and the partners advised one of the partners about the lack of feedback that he provides his associates concerning their work. His response was:

“He gets feedback – if I don’t throw the file at him, he knows that he is doing well.”

Obviously, the firm had a hard time finding associates in the firm that wanted to work for him. This is not a wise approach for the development of associates or an effective way of managing associate talent. Associates want to know what the firm expects of them in specific terms, and they want specific feedback on their work.

During an associate interview at one client law firm, I asked the following two questions:

Are you satisfied with your compensation?
Are you satisfied with the method used to determine your compensation?

His responses:

Regarding satisfaction with compensation:

“I am extremely satisfied and happy with my compensation. If I were the partners, I would not pay me as much as they are paying me.”

Regarding satisfaction with the method used to determine compensation:

“I am not satisfied with the method used to determine compensation. I have no idea as to why I got what I got or how my raise and bonus was determined. I don’t know what performance factors are considered by the partners. I would like to know specifics about my performance so I continue to do what I have been doing or improve on weak areas so I can grow professionally as a lawyer.”

A well-designed talent management program is an essential component to finding, minding, and retaining top lawyer talent. Such a program should include a written attorney career advancement program.

In addition to on-the-job learning, many law are offering a curriculum of formal learning programs designed to equip associates with the substantive legal knowledge, business acumen, and analytical, communications and management skills required to have professionally rewarded careers.

Attorney Career Advancement Program

Non-equity partners and associates in law firms want to know if there is more and what they can look forward to regarding their career. Here are the typical questions that associates have advised me they would like answered:

Do the existing partners ever plan on having additional equity or income partners?
What would income partner mean in this firm? Responsibility, expectations, decision-making, compensation, etc.
What would equity partnership mean in this firm? Influence, decision-making, compensation, etc.
What do I have to do to become an equity partner? Income partner? (Specific performance expectations)
What would be the performance expectations and time expectations be of me as an equity/income partner?
What would it cost me to become an equity partner? Buy-in?
What will it cost me when the existing equity partners retire or otherwise withdraw from the firm?

In general, non-equity partners and associates in law firms have a desire and need to know the answers to the above questions even though some (often many) may ultimately have no interest in equity membership. Providing answers to these questions is what a career advancement program is intended to accomplish. Sometimes this is referred to a partner track but I think such programs should also incorporate advancement to senior associate and non-equity (income) partner as well as equity partner.

Income Partner Tiers

A non-equity member/partner tier has become common in firms of all sizes. I have worked with very few law firms over the last several years that did not have a non-equity or income partner tier. Typical reasons include:

The equity partners do not want to have any more equity partners in the short-term and they want to buy time and stretch out the timeline for making additional equity partners. Some of the associates have years of experience, are excellent performers, and deserve the professional designation, title, and status of partner.
The partner title means more than you may think, and it is important to associate attorneys with seniority in most firms. Often it helps with professional recognition with clients, referral sources, and other attorneys. In some law firms they are able to bill income partners at partner level billing rates.
The income partner tier can help with lawyer retention.
The income partner tier can serve as a testing ground for future equity partners. Some may eventually become equity partners and others may not.
In some law firms’ income partner is simply a title. They may get a slight boost in salary and that is it. They are listed on the letterhead and website as partners along with equity partners. Other firms, in addition to the title, provide additional perks and sometimes different compensation arrangements.

Income partner tiers should be reserved for exceptional performers and not a dumping ground where everyone that has been there for a while becomes an income partner. This buys firms time before having to begin to bring in additional equity partners/shareholders/members.

Implement a Law Firm Associate Career Advancement/Partnership Program

A common complaint that we hear from our interviews of associates is lack of feedback on short term performance and what it takes to “make partner” and how they are progressing toward eventual partnership. During a recent interview an associate told me – I would like to know:

What does it take to become a partner – consideration criteria? What do I have to do?
What is the timeline for consideration?
How am I doing – am I partnership material?
What does partnership mean in this firm?
What are the mechanics of admission? (Is there a buy-in)

I suggest that you and your partners consider developing what I call a Law Firm Attorney Career Advancement/Partnership Program and put it in writing. Here is an approach you might take:

Determine if you want more partners? How many – evaluate the appropriate ratio.
Consider whether there will be a junior and associate tier.
Consider non-equity partners as a first step to equity partnership and determine what that means.
Establish a minimum number of years for consideration for each tier – i.e. seven years.
Determine competencies and expectations for associate development and advancement to each tier document.
Develop an associate performance evaluation form and conduct formal annual evaluations.
Develop attorney advancement criteria (associate to senior associate to non-equity and non-equity to equity partner) and document.
Write-up an overall program document and include as attachments the competencies document, the performance evaluation form, and the admission criteria document.
Present the program to associates in a live meeting format to launch the program.

Some of our client law firms use a brief career advancement program document without a comprehensive competency model as illustrated here. https://www.olmsteadassoc.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/careeradvanceprogbrief.pdf

Other firms incorporate a comprehensive competency model into the program document. In both cases attorney performance reviews are done annually and during the review attorneys are advised as to how they are progressing with regard to the firm’s career advancement benchmarks and requirements.

Regarding equity partnership – make the criteria tough. Many firms require a buy-in or capital contribution. Business development and a client book of business/following should be required by most firms for the equity tier.

John W. Olmstead, MBA, Ph.D., CMC, is a Certified Management Consultant and the president of Olmstead & Associates, Legal Management Consultants, based in St. Louis, Missouri. The firm helps law and other professional service firms improve the operations and management of their practices and the lives of their practitioners. The firm, founded in 1984 serves clients across the Globe assisting them with implementing change and improving operational and financial performance, management, leadership, client development and marketing.

John’s assignments have covered the spectrum of management issues. However, in recent years most of his time has been focused on engagements helping firms in areas:

Succession and Exit Planning
Partnership Admission and Structure
Practice Sale & Mergers
Partner Compensation
Governance
Strategy & Competitive Business Models
Profit Improvement programs

John is the author of a recently published book, The Lawyers Guide of Succession Planning: A Project Management Approach for Successful Transitions and Exits, , Published by the American Bar Association, John was Editor-in-Chief of “The Lawyers Competitive Edge: The Journal of Law Office Economics and Management,” published by Thomson Reuters for twenty-four years. He is currently serving as Past Chair, Illinois State Bar Association Standing Committee on Law Office Management and Economics and as a past member of the Legal Marketing Association (LMA) Research Committee. John may be contacted via e-mail at

jolmstead@olmsteadassoc.com. Additional articles and information is available at the firm’s web site:

Law Firm Partnership – Implementing a Lawyer Career Advancement Program

By John W. Olmstead, MBA, Ph.D., CMC

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