Founder - Risepoint Search Partners • Former Litigator • Mom
Two of my incredible young partner candidates are interviewing today at two different DC powerhouse firms. These fabulous women graduated law school in 2013 and 2014. Neither of them is bringing in day 1 portables. Instead, the firms they are interviewing with see these candidates as investments in growing the firm and know that under the right platforms, these candidates will be hugely successful at both originating new business and in servicing the firms' existing clients. Of course, it’s great if a partner candidate is bringing portables. But many extremely talented lawyers do not for various reasons (often because they are young and haven't had time to develop a book, are coming from government or in-house, or are coming from a platform that doesn't encourage individual origination, to name a few). Firms that are able to recognize *potential* as opposed to day 1 portables are setting themselves up for limitless future success. Kudos to my clients for recognizing the enormous talent that these partners will bring to their new firms and good luck to my candidates (they don’t need it though).
This is my story at McDermott Will & Emery. Limitless future success for firms with this vision sounds exactly right!
You're not distinguishing between income and equity partners, which is a crucial difference.
Thank you for supporting women lawyers such as myself. I retired from my career law clerk position with the federal judiciary last year and started a new career in private practice. I am lucky that Jackson Walker LLP saw the skills I could offer from my government experience.
Thank you for sharing! I will root silently from the sidelines and hope for TWO offers! Would love to hear this happens and perhaps, other firms will open themselves up to similar candidates. Betting on the future and investing in today’s talent! 🌟
President and CEO at Miles Partner Placement, LLC
3wGood luck with your "Rising Star" candidates without any business, I hope their processes run smoothly and they end up getting hired. I will say, however, in my 18 years experience, I can't tell you how many "young, rising STAR candidates with limitless potential..." I have worked all the way through processes with "powerhouse firms who really want the MOST TALENTED" lawyers and are "willing to invest" only to have the process crater at some late point in the process after some key decision maker at the firm decides that "we are not looking for non-equity partners, or partners who can't keep themselves (and others) busy..." Especially when market or larger economic issues are impacting firms' client inventory, fewer of these STARS are viewed that way at the end of a process, after the first rounds of interviews. Again, good luck, I hope you have threaded the needle...so to speak.