It is our hope and expectation that our associates will strive to become partners of the firm. The traditional partnership track at the firm is eight years.
The partnership, as a whole, elects individual lawyers to become partners in the firm. All partners, irrespective of the office in which they are located and their seniority, are full-fledged members of the firm with equal voting and participation rights.
Several years ago, we adopted general guidelines relating to long-term employment arrangements that could be offered to those associates who do not become partners but whom we nonetheless wish to encourage to remain with the firm.
Counsel: We offer the position of counsel on a selective basis to a small number of highly regarded lawyers. Over time, the counsel position has evolved to include lawyers in a variety of practice areas throughout the firm. The partnership, as a whole, selects lawyers to become counsel.
Senior Attorney: We established the position of senior attorney as an alternative career position.
Senior attorneys in most instances continue in their prior practice areas, and have senior responsibilities commensurate with their standing, under the supervision of partners and counsel within their practice group. Senior attorneys also play important roles in recruiting, mentoring, training, business development, practice group development and other managerial and firm-supporting roles, and with greater leadership responsibilities than they had as associates.