Breaking with Tradition
Thriving Outside the Partnership Path
Achieving partnership has long been viewed as the pinnacle of legal career success. But as the legal landscape undergoes major change, so too have the progression opportunities on offer. Sarah Morgan reports.
The traditional route to success where you find a good law firm and stay put until you make partner seems to have lost some of its allure.
As new generations and new technologies enter the legal world, law firms have realized that the partnership track, a one-size-fits-all approach, cannot be the only option for those wishing to progress.
Looking beyond partnership to a different career path will be explored at the session entitled Thriving Outside the Partnership Path on Saturday, May 2, 2:15 pm to 3:15 pm.
"Traditionally, law firm careers have followed a very linear path: associate to partner … It’s been a high-performing model—but also a narrow one."
- Kathryn Szymczyk | Gowling WLG LLP (Canada)
Reassessing the Partnership Model
One of the panelists, Kathryn Szymczyk, Senior Manager, Strategic Growth and Client Programs at Gowling WLG LLP (Canada), says: “Traditionally, law firm careers have followed a very linear path: associate to partner, with success measured by technical excellence, billable hours, and client origination. It’s been a high-performing model—but also a narrow one.”
As new technologies emerge and the priorities of lawyers and clients shift, and as firms face increased competition, the model has changed, with new paths to success emerging.
Session moderator Nicole Smalberger, Partner at Adams & Adams (South Africa) and domain name dispute adjudicator at the South African Institute of Intellectual Property Law, says: “We see this not only in how we work, with the advent of new technologies such as artificial intelligence, but also in what attorneys, particularly Millennial and Gen Z attorneys want to gain from their careers, and how they envisage their career life.”
“There seems to be a growing need for different and evolving roles in law firms, both for attorneys themselves and their sense of job satisfaction, but also for firms in terms of efficient service delivery models and the retention of talented attorneys,” she adds.
David Stone, Partner at White & Case LLP (UK), is also on the panel and agrees, saying: “All firms are trying to attract and retain the best talent, and full-time equity partnership doesn’t suit everybody.”
Mr. Stone, who sits part-time as a Deputy High Court Judge and teaches IP at the University of Oxford and the University of Alicante, Spain, adds: “Options enable firms to have the best people available to meet clients’ needs. And that takes a broader team than just lawyers—within a firm there are lots of different professionals to deliver client service.”
"There seems to be a growing need for different and evolving roles in law firms."
- Nicole Smalberger | Adams & Adams (South Africa)
How Do You Know?
With many different progression opportunities outside the traditional on offer, you may be wondering whether an alternative career path is right for you.
“There’s usually a pattern if you look closely. You may find yourself drawn to certain aspects of your work—client relationships, strategy, innovation, operations—that sit adjacent to traditional legal practice,” says Ms. Szymczyk, who has worked in private practice, international leadership, strategic roles, and in the business of law at various points in her career.
She adds: “Each role expanded my perspective: from legal expertise, to leadership, to cross-border strategy, to understanding how clients actually experience legal services.”
Fellow panelist, Steven Cooper, partner at Falcon Rappaport & Berkman LLP (USA), notes: “If you think you have a career niche that you either find most fulfilling or a specialty of yours that you can excel at, an alternative career path can allow you to focus in that area of practice. If being able to work certain hours without billing requirements is a priority, you can accomplish this through an alternative path.”
However, career capital must be developed if you want to build your own alternative career path, advises Mr. Cooper, who took the traditional path for most of his career before giving up his equity stake to become a non-equity partner last year.
Going outside of the traditional path may require leadership to be convinced “to let you create a new role aligned with your objectives, or to let you deviate from their traditional career tracks,” explains Mr. Cooper.
He adds: “Career capital can come in several forms, such as being an expert in a particular field or excelling at developing business, but generally, career capital is a unique set of skills you can offer to employers or clients to increase your value, and is something you can spend when you want to convince someone to take a chance on you in your career or allow you to build an alternative job profile.”
“As with any career path,” says Ms. Smalberger, “you need to be focused and clear on what it is that you want to do and achieve, willing to learn, grow, take constructive criticism, and constantly assess whether you can do what you are doing better and more efficiently.”
"Career capital is a unique set of skills you can offer to employers or clients to increase your value."
- Steven Cooper | Falcon Rappaport & Berkman LLP (USA)
