- 3 months ago
Every satisfying step of the law firm ladder, from terrified 1L to the name on the building.
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VIDEO TOPICS/TIMESTAMPS
0:00 The Law Student
3:09 The Summer Associate
5:26 The Junior Associate
8:30 The Mid-Level Associate
10:37 The Senior Associate
12:42 The Of Counsel
14:38 The Non-Equity Partner
16:54 The Equity Partner
19:35 The Managing Partner
22:18 The Name On The Door
☕ Support the channel & suggest my next video idea: https://ko-fi.com/masterpov
VIDEO TOPICS/TIMESTAMPS
0:00 The Law Student
3:09 The Summer Associate
5:26 The Junior Associate
8:30 The Mid-Level Associate
10:37 The Senior Associate
12:42 The Of Counsel
14:38 The Non-Equity Partner
16:54 The Equity Partner
19:35 The Managing Partner
22:18 The Name On The Door
Category
📚
LearningTranscript
00:00Level 1. The Law Student
00:02You were sitting in a lecture hall with 200 other people
00:05who all think they are the smartest person in the room.
00:09You were the smartest person in every room before this one.
00:12You were the kid who argued with teachers and won.
00:16You were the debate captain.
00:17You were the one your family pointed to at Thanksgiving and said,
00:21that one's going to be a lawyer.
00:23Now you are here. First year. First year.
00:27The hardest year of your life, and it hasn't even started yet.
00:32The professor calls on you without warning.
00:34He doesn't care that you didn't raise your hand.
00:36He doesn't care that you aren't ready.
00:38He asks you to explain the holding in Palsgraf vs. Long Island Railroad.
00:43You stumble through an answer.
00:45He dismantles it in front of everyone.
00:47He asks you a follow-up question.
00:50You get it wrong.
00:51He asks another.
00:52You get that wrong, too.
00:54The room is silent.
00:56You can feel 200 sets of eyes on the back of your neck.
01:00This is the Socratic method.
01:02It is designed to teach you how to think like a lawyer.
01:06What it actually teaches you is how to be humiliated and keep functioning.
01:10You study 14 hours a day.
01:13You read cases until the words blur together.
01:16You brief every case, outline every class,
01:19memorize every rule and exception to every rule.
01:22Your social life disappears.
01:25Your relationships strain.
01:27You drink more coffee than water.
01:29You stop exercising.
01:31You gain 15 pounds your first semester,
01:33and you don't even notice because you haven't looked in a mirror in weeks.
01:37First semester grades come out, and they destroy half the class emotionally.
01:43There is no curve like undergrad.
01:45One exam, one grade.
01:48Your entire semester, compressed into a three-hour essay that determines your class rank.
01:54Your class rank determines which firms will interview you.
01:57Which firms interview you determines your entire career.
02:01Everything filters down from that one number.
02:04You finish 1L in the top 15% of your class.
02:08That's good enough.
02:10Good enough for what comes next.
02:12You spend the summer before 2L sending out 300 applications.
02:16You tailor each cover letter.
02:18You research each firm.
02:20You write paragraphs about why you specifically want to work
02:24at this specific firm doing this specific type of law.
02:28Most of it is fiction.
02:31You don't know what kind of law you want to practice.
02:33You barely know what lawyers actually do.
02:36You just know you need a summer associate position at a big firm
02:40because that's the pipeline.
02:42That's how it works.
02:44A firm in the city calls you back.
02:46They fly you out for an interview.
02:48You wear a suit that costs more than your monthly rent.
02:52You shake hands with partners who bill $1,500 an hour.
02:56They ask you about your journal note and your moot court experience
03:00and that internship you had with the judge.
03:02You smile.
03:04You perform.
03:05You get the offer.
03:07You sign it the same day.
03:09Level 2.
03:10The summer associate.
03:12They call it a summer program,
03:13but it's really an audition disguised as a job.
03:16You show up in June wearing a new suit.
03:19The firm occupies six floors of a glass tower downtown.
03:22The lobby has marble floors and a security desk
03:26and a silence that feels expensive.
03:28They give you a key card and a laptop
03:30and an office with a window.
03:32You are 25 years old and you have an office with a window.
03:36You feel like you've made it.
03:38You haven't.
03:39There are 30 summer associates in your class.
03:42You are all from top law schools.
03:44You are all in the top of your classes.
03:46You are all performing the same quiet calculation
03:49every time you walk into a room together.
03:51Who is getting an offer?
03:53Who is competition?
03:55Who is going to embarrass themselves at the firm outing
03:57and make the rest of us look better?
03:59The firm spends an absurd amount of money on you.
04:02Dinners at restaurants where the appetizers cost $40.
04:06Yankees tickets behind home plate.
04:08A weekend retreat at a resort upstate.
04:11They are selling you the lifestyle.
04:13They want you to taste what $215,000 a year feels like
04:17before you've earned a dollar of it.
04:19The work they give you is carefully curated.
04:22A research memo here.
04:23A due diligence task there.
04:25Nothing too hard.
04:27Nothing that could break you.
04:29They want to see if you can write.
04:30If you can think.
04:31If you can handle yourself in a meeting
04:33without saying something stupid.
04:35They want to see if clients would like you.
04:37They want to see if you fit.
04:39You work 10-hour days,
04:41which feels like a lot until you realize
04:43the real associates are working 14.
04:45The real associates look tired
04:47in a way that goes past their eyes.
04:49They smile at you in the hallways,
04:50but there is something behind the smile.
04:53Not resentment exactly.
04:54More like recognition.
04:56They remember being you.
04:58They know what's coming.
04:59At the end of the summer,
05:01they give you an offer.
05:02Almost everyone gets an offer.
05:04The summer program is designed that way.
05:07The real sorting happens later.
05:08You go back to law school for your final year,
05:11knowing that you have a job waiting.
05:13You have a salary waiting.
05:15You have a life waiting.
05:17You just have to survive one more year
05:19and pass the bar.
05:20You do both.
05:21You graduate.
05:23You pass.
05:24You are now a licensed attorney.
05:26Level 3.
05:27The Junior Associate.
05:29Your first day is orientation.
05:31There are 40 of you in a conference room
05:33on the 38th floor.
05:34You get a benefits package
05:36as thick as a textbook.
05:38You sign forms for three hours.
05:41They assign you to a practice group.
05:43Corporate, litigation, tax, real estate.
05:47You chose corporate
05:48because that's where the money is.
05:50You don't know yet what corporate law
05:52actually looks like from the inside.
05:54What it looks like is this.
05:57You sit in front of two monitors
05:59reviewing documents.
06:01Thousands of documents.
06:02Tens of thousands of documents.
06:05A company is buying another company
06:06for $4 billion,
06:08and every piece of paper
06:09both companies have ever produced
06:11needs to be reviewed and categorized.
06:14You are the one reviewing and categorizing.
06:17You read contracts.
06:19You read board minutes.
06:20You read email chains between executives
06:22arguing about things
06:23you barely understand.
06:25You flag issues.
06:26You write memos
06:28summarizing what you found.
06:29You send the memos
06:30to senior associates
06:31who rewrite them
06:32and send them to partners
06:33who rewrite them again.
06:35You bill your time
06:36in six-minute increments.
06:38Every six minutes of your day
06:40must be accounted for.
06:420.1 for reading an email.
06:440.3 for a phone call.
06:472.5 for drafting a memo.
06:49You track everything.
06:51If you go to the bathroom,
06:52that's time you can't bill.
06:54If you eat lunch,
06:55that's time you can't bill.
06:57If you stare out the window
06:58for 10 minutes
06:59questioning your life choices,
07:00nobody is paying for that.
07:03The firm expects you
07:04to bill 2,000 hours per year.
07:06That sounds manageable
07:07until you do the math.
07:09To bill 2,000 hours,
07:11you need to be at the office
07:12for roughly 2,500 to 3,000 hours.
07:16That's 60 to 70 hours a week,
07:18every week,
07:19for 50 weeks.
07:21There are no slow seasons.
07:23There are only busy seasons
07:25and busier seasons.
07:27You get an email
07:29at 9 p.m. on a Friday.
07:30A partner needs a memo
07:31by Monday morning.
07:33You cancel your weekend plans.
07:35You do this every weekend
07:37for three months straight.
07:39Your friends
07:39stop inviting you to things.
07:41Your partner
07:42starts having conversations
07:43about whether this is sustainable.
07:45You say it is.
07:47You're not sure you believe it.
07:49But the direct deposit
07:50hits your account
07:51every two weeks.
07:53$215,000 a year.
07:56Before taxes,
07:57it's the most money
07:58anyone in your family
07:59has ever made.
08:01After taxes
08:02and student loan payments,
08:03it feels like a lot less.
08:05You start losing people.
08:07Associates in your class
08:08start leaving.
08:09Some go to smaller firms.
08:11Some go in-house.
08:13Some leave law entirely.
08:15The one who sat next to you
08:16in orientation
08:17is now selling real estate.
08:19Nobody talks about it openly,
08:21but everyone tracks who's left.
08:23You stay
08:24because you don't know
08:25what else you would do.
08:26You stay
08:27because the debt
08:28requires it.
08:30Level 4,
08:31the mid-level associate.
08:32You've been at the firm
08:33for four years.
08:35You are no longer
08:36the person who reviews documents.
08:37You are the person
08:38who tells other people
08:40to review documents.
08:41There are junior associates
08:43below you now.
08:44They look at you
08:45the way you once looked
08:46at the senior associates.
08:47Tired.
08:48Curious.
08:49Slightly afraid.
08:50You run deals now.
08:52Not by yourself.
08:53Never by yourself.
08:55A partner is always above you.
08:57But you manage
08:58the day-to-day.
08:58You coordinate
08:59with opposing counsel.
09:01You negotiate
09:01contract language.
09:03You draft
09:04purchase agreements
09:04and merger documents
09:05and disclosure schedules.
09:07You talk to clients directly.
09:09This is new.
09:10For three years,
09:11you were invisible
09:12to clients.
09:13Now they know your name.
09:14They call you
09:15with questions at midnight.
09:16You answer
09:17because that's what you do.
09:18Your hours
09:19haven't gotten better.
09:20They've gotten worse.
09:21You billed
09:222,300 hours last year.
09:24That's roughly
09:2512 hours a day,
09:26six days a week.
09:27Your firm gave you
09:28a bonus for it.
09:29$65,000.
09:31You spent most of it
09:32on a vacation
09:33you had to cut short
09:34because a deal closed early
09:35and they needed you back.
09:37You laughed about it
09:38at the time.
09:39Now you're not sure
09:40it was funny.
09:41You've started to understand
09:42something about this profession
09:43that nobody explains
09:44to you in law school.
09:46The law is a service business.
09:48You are selling your time.
09:50Every hour of your life
09:51has a price tag
09:52and the client
09:53is paying it.
09:53Your value to the firm
09:55is the gap
09:56between what you cost
09:57and what you bill.
09:58Right now
09:59you cost the firm
10:00$215,000 in salary
10:02and maybe another
10:03$100,000 in overhead.
10:05You bill out
10:06at $750 an hour.
10:08You bill 2,300 hours.
10:11That's $1.7 million
10:12in revenue.
10:13The math is simple.
10:15You are profitable.
10:16As long as you are profitable,
10:18you have a job.
10:19The moment you stop
10:20being profitable,
10:21you don't.
10:22Nobody says this out loud.
10:24Nobody has to.
10:25You look around the office.
10:27The partners drive nice cars
10:28and own homes
10:29in the suburbs.
10:30They seem to have lives
10:31outside this building.
10:33You wonder when that starts.
10:34You wonder if it starts.
10:36Level 5.
10:37The Senior Associate.
10:39You've been here seven years.
10:41Seven years of memos
10:42and deals
10:43and all-nighters
10:44and conference calls
10:45that could have been emails.
10:47Seven years of watching
10:48people leave.
10:49Your entering class of 40
10:51is down to 12.
10:52The rest are scattered
10:53across the legal world.
10:55In-house counsel
10:55at tech companies,
10:57government attorneys,
10:58legal recruiters,
10:59a few who disappeared
11:00from law entirely.
11:02You are senior now.
11:04The firm has invested
11:05seven years in you.
11:06Partners rely on you
11:07to run their matters.
11:09Clients trust you.
11:10Junior associates
11:11come to you with questions
11:12the way you once went
11:13to the people above you.
11:14You train them.
11:16You review their work.
11:17You teach them things
11:18that took you years
11:19to learn the hard way.
11:20You remember what it felt
11:22like to be new.
11:23You try to be the senior associate
11:25you wish you'd had.
11:26Some of them will make it.
11:28Most won't.
11:29The partnership question
11:30is in the air now.
11:31It follows you everywhere.
11:33Every assignment
11:34is a test.
11:35Every interaction
11:36with a partner
11:37is an evaluation.
11:38Can she run a practice?
11:40Can she bring in business?
11:42Does she have what it takes
11:43to be an owner
11:43of this firm?
11:44You start developing business.
11:47You take clients to dinners.
11:48You attend conferences
11:49and hand out business cards.
11:51You write articles
11:52for legal publications
11:53that nobody reads.
11:54You give presentations
11:56at bar association events.
11:57You are marketing yourself.
11:59This feels wrong
12:01for someone who went
12:01to law school
12:02to practice law.
12:03But this is the game.
12:04The people who make partner
12:06are not necessarily
12:07the best lawyers.
12:08They are the best salespeople.
12:10Your review comes.
12:11The partners give you feedback.
12:13Your work is excellent.
12:14Your hours are strong.
12:16Your client relationships
12:17are solid.
12:18But there's a question.
12:20The firm needs to see
12:21more business development.
12:23Originations.
12:24Your own clients.
12:25Not inherited work
12:26from partners.
12:27Your own book.
12:29You need to prove
12:30that you can feed yourself.
12:31That's the phrase they use.
12:33Can she feed herself?
12:35You are 34 years old.
12:37You have been a lawyer
12:38for seven years.
12:39You still feel like
12:40you're auditioning.
12:42Level six.
12:43The of counsel.
12:44You didn't make partner.
12:46Not this year.
12:47They told you
12:48the decision was close.
12:49They told you
12:50the firm values you.
12:51They told you
12:52they want to keep you.
12:54They offered you
12:54a new title.
12:56Of counsel.
12:57It sounds prestigious
12:58until you understand
13:00what it means.
13:01It means you are
13:02a senior attorney
13:02without ownership.
13:03It means you are
13:04experienced and respected
13:06and permanently
13:07outside the inner circle.
13:08It means you are not
13:09on the partnership track anymore.
13:11Some people choose this.
13:13They want the stability
13:14without the pressure
13:15of building a book of business.
13:17They want to practice law
13:18without running a business.
13:20They want to go home
13:21at a reasonable hour
13:22more than once a week.
13:24Of counsel attorneys
13:24can have good careers.
13:26Comfortable careers.
13:27They make $300,000
13:29to $500,000 a year
13:31depending on the firm.
13:32They handle complex work.
13:34They mentor young attorneys.
13:36They are valued.
13:37But there is a ceiling
13:38and everyone can see it.
13:40You will never vote
13:41on firm decisions.
13:42You will never share
13:43in the profits.
13:44You will never have
13:45your name considered
13:46for leadership.
13:47You are a permanent guest
13:48in someone else's house.
13:50The partners treat you well
13:51but there is a difference
13:53in how they speak to you now.
13:54Subtle.
13:55Almost invisible.
13:56A slight pause
13:58before they include you
13:59in conversations
13:59about the firm's future.
14:01A meeting you weren't
14:02invited to
14:03that you hear about
14:03second hand.
14:04But you feel it.
14:05You are not one of them.
14:07You are staff.
14:09Highly paid,
14:10deeply experienced staff.
14:12You think about leaving.
14:14You've been thinking
14:15about it for months.
14:16A legal recruiter
14:17calls you twice a week.
14:19Companies want
14:19experienced attorneys
14:20in-house.
14:21The hours are better.
14:22The money is comparable.
14:24The work is different.
14:26You would have one client
14:27instead of dozens.
14:28You would be a business person
14:29who happens to have
14:30a law degree
14:31instead of a lawyer
14:32who bills by the hour.
14:33Some days
14:34that sounds like freedom.
14:36Some days
14:36it sounds like giving up.
14:38Level 7.
14:39The non-equity partner.
14:41You made partner.
14:42Sort of.
14:43The firm announced it
14:44at the annual meeting.
14:45Your name was read aloud.
14:47People applauded.
14:48Your parents cried.
14:49Your spouse posted
14:50about it online.
14:51You received
14:52200 congratulations messages
14:54in 48 hours.
14:55It felt real.
14:56It felt like
14:57everything you'd been
14:58working toward
14:58for nearly a decade.
15:00Then you read
15:01the partnership agreement.
15:02Non-equity.
15:04You are a partner
15:05in name.
15:06You appear
15:06on the letterhead.
15:07You have a vote
15:08on certain matters.
15:09Your title
15:10on your business card
15:10says partner.
15:11But you do not
15:12own a piece
15:13of this firm.
15:14You do not share
15:15in the profits
15:16the way equity partners do.
15:17You receive a salary.
15:19A very good salary.
15:21$600,000
15:22to $800,000
15:23depending on your performance.
15:24But it is a salary.
15:26You are an employee
15:27with a fancy title.
15:29The firm has
15:30two classes
15:30of partners
15:31and everyone knows it.
15:32Equity partners
15:33own the firm.
15:34They invested capital.
15:35They have a stake.
15:36They share the profits,
15:38which at a major firm
15:39can mean $2 million
15:40to $5 million a year.
15:43Non-equity partners
15:44are the middle class.
15:45Better than associates.
15:47Less than owners.
15:48You sit in partner meetings
15:49and vote on hiring decisions
15:51and office renovations.
15:52The real decisions
15:53happen in equity partner meetings
15:55that you are not invited to.
15:56You have a window now.
15:58Maybe three to five years.
15:59That's how long you have
16:00to build enough business
16:01to justify elevation to equity.
16:04You need originations.
16:05You need clients
16:06who come to this firm
16:07because of you.
16:08Not because of the firm's reputation.
16:10Not because a senior partner
16:11handed them to you.
16:13Clients who call your phone.
16:14Clients who follow you
16:15if you leave.
16:16That's the currency.
16:18That's what buys you
16:19a seat at the real table.
16:20You work harder
16:21than you've ever worked.
16:22Not just on legal matters.
16:24On relationships.
16:25You take potential clients
16:27to golf outings.
16:28You sponsor conference panels.
16:30You write thought leadership pieces.
16:32You join boards.
16:33You attend alumni events
16:34at your law school
16:35hoping to meet general counsels
16:36who graduated
16:37the same year you did.
16:38You do all of this
16:39while still billing
16:401,800 hours a year
16:42and managing a team of associates.
16:45Your days start at 6 a.m.
16:46and end at 11 p.m.
16:48You haven't read a book
16:49for pleasure in three years.
16:51You haven't had a weekend
16:52without email
16:52and longer than that.
16:54Level 8.
16:55The equity partner.
16:56You are an owner now.
16:58The real thing.
16:59You wrote a check.
17:00Capital contribution.
17:02Depending on the firm
17:03that's $100,000
17:05to $500,000
17:06of your own money
17:07invested in the partnership.
17:09You borrowed some of it.
17:10You're paying it back
17:11over five years.
17:12But the check is written.
17:15You are in.
17:16The first equity partner
17:18distribution
17:18hits your account
17:19and you stare at the number
17:20for a long time.
17:21After a decade of grinding,
17:24the economics
17:24finally makes sense.
17:26Your compensation
17:27is tied to the firm's profits.
17:29In a good year,
17:30you take home $2 million.
17:32In a great year,
17:33more.
17:34You understand now
17:35why the partners above you
17:36worked the way they did.
17:38Why they were on their phones
17:39at dinner.
17:40Why they missed
17:41their kids' games.
17:42This is what
17:43they were chasing.
17:44You have a book of business
17:46worth $5 million
17:47in annual revenue.
17:49$5 million
17:49that walks through the door
17:51because clients trust you.
17:52You manage a team
17:54of 15 attorneys.
17:55Associates,
17:56counsel,
17:57junior partners.
17:58They do the work.
18:00You find the work.
18:01That's the shift
18:02that happens at this level.
18:04You are no longer
18:05a lawyer who does legal work.
18:06You are a business owner
18:08who happens to have
18:09a law degree.
18:10You sit on the
18:10compensation committee.
18:12You help decide
18:13what every attorney
18:14in the firm gets paid.
18:15You sit in partner meetings
18:17where the future
18:17of the firm is debated.
18:19Should we open
18:20an office in London?
18:21Should we merge
18:22with a firm in California?
18:23Should we invest
18:24in artificial intelligence tools
18:26that might replace
18:27a third of the associate work?
18:29These are business decisions
18:30worth hundreds of millions
18:31of dollars.
18:32You have a vote.
18:33Your vote matters.
18:35But the pressure
18:36has changed shape.
18:37It hasn't decreased.
18:39Associates worry
18:39about making partner.
18:41Partners worry
18:41about keeping clients.
18:42A client isn't loyal
18:44to a firm.
18:45A client is loyal
18:46to a person.
18:47If that person dies
18:49or retires or leaves,
18:50the client leaves too.
18:52You are only as good
18:53as your last year's billings.
18:54If a major client leaves,
18:56your compensation drops.
18:58If two major clients leave,
19:00your partnership stake
19:01is reviewed.
19:02You've seen equity partners
19:03ask to leave.
19:04Quietly.
19:05No announcement.
19:06They just stop
19:07showing up one Monday.
19:09Their office
19:09is cleaned out by Wednesday.
19:11You go to your daughter's
19:12school play
19:12on a Thursday evening.
19:14You sit in the back row
19:15answering emails
19:16on your phone
19:16while she sings.
19:17She waves at you
19:18from the stage.
19:19You wave back.
19:21You don't remember
19:22the name of the play
19:22the next morning.
19:23You do remember
19:24the client call
19:25you took in the parking lot
19:26during intermission.
19:27You tell yourself,
19:29this is temporary.
19:30The money is for them.
19:31The sacrifice
19:32is for them.
19:33You're not sure
19:34they agree.
19:35Level 9.
19:36The managing partner.
19:38They elected you
19:39to run the firm.
19:40There was a vote.
19:41It was contested.
19:42Two other equity partners
19:44wanted it.
19:44You won because you had
19:46the broadest support
19:47across practice groups.
19:49Litigators trusted you.
19:50Corporate attorneys
19:51respected you.
19:52Even the tax group,
19:53which trusts no one,
19:55voted for you.
19:56You are now
19:56the managing partner
19:57of a firm
19:58with 600 attorneys
19:59across 8 offices.
20:01You stop practicing law
20:02almost entirely.
20:03You still have
20:04a few clients.
20:05Legacy relationships
20:06you can't hand off
20:07without losing them entirely.
20:09But 90% of your time
20:11is management.
20:12You run a business
20:13that generates
20:13$800 million in revenue.
20:16You manage egos
20:17that are larger
20:17than the revenue.
20:19Every equity partner
20:20believes they are
20:21underpaid
20:21and over-supervised.
20:23Every associate
20:24believes they are
20:24overworked
20:25and under-appreciated.
20:27Everyone is
20:28partially right.
20:29You deal with crises
20:30that would have been
20:31unimaginable to you
20:32as a junior associate.
20:33A partner in the
20:34Dallas office
20:35is accused of harassment.
20:36A client sues
20:38the firm for malpractice
20:39over a missed
20:39filing deadline.
20:41A group of 12 partners
20:42threatens to leave
20:43for a competitor
20:44unless you restructure
20:45their compensation.
20:47A first-year associate
20:48has a breakdown
20:48in the office
20:49at 2 a.m.
20:50and security
20:51calls you at home.
20:52You handle all of it.
20:53You set the firm's
20:55strategic direction,
20:56five-year plan.
20:57You decide
20:58which practice areas
20:59to grow
20:59and which to wind down.
21:01You decide
21:02where to open
21:02new offices
21:03and where to close
21:04existing ones.
21:05You negotiate
21:06lateral hires,
21:07bringing in partners
21:08from other firms
21:09with their books
21:09of business.
21:10Each hire
21:11is a multi-million dollar bet.
21:13Some of them pay off.
21:14Some of them flame out
21:16within two years
21:17and take clients
21:17with them when they leave.
21:19You represent
21:20the firm publicly.
21:21You speak at
21:22legal industry conferences.
21:23You give interviews
21:24to legal publications.
21:26You meet with
21:27general counsels
21:27of Fortune 500 companies
21:29over dinners
21:29that last three hours
21:31and produce
21:31no billable time.
21:33You smile at people
21:34you don't like.
21:35You compliment
21:36competitors you don't respect.
21:37You are the face
21:38of the firm.
21:39When the firm succeeds,
21:41you get a fraction
21:42of the credit.
21:43When the firm fails,
21:44you get all of the blame.
21:46Your compensation
21:47as managing partner
21:48is among the highest
21:49in the firm,
21:50but the role
21:50is temporary.
21:52Three to five-year terms.
21:53When your term ends,
21:55you go back
21:55to being a regular
21:56equity partner.
21:57You go back
21:58to practicing law.
21:59Except you haven't
22:00practiced in years.
22:01Your clients have been
22:02managed by other partners.
22:04Your skills
22:04have atrophied.
22:05You are 58 years old
22:07and you have to rebuild
22:09a practice from scratch.
22:10Or you don't.
22:12Some managing partners
22:13retire when their term ends.
22:15They are tired in a way
22:16that sleep doesn't fix.
22:18Level 10.
22:19The name on the door.
22:21You started this firm.
22:23Forty years ago,
22:24you left a big firm
22:25and rented a two-room office
22:26above a dry cleaner
22:27on a street
22:28nobody had heard of.
22:30You had three clients.
22:31You had a secretary
22:33who also answered
22:34the phones
22:34and also did the billing
22:35because there was
22:36nobody else.
22:37You had a name
22:39and a reputation
22:39and a belief
22:41that you could
22:41build something.
22:42The first five years
22:44almost killed you.
22:45Not metaphorically.
22:47Your doctor told you
22:48your blood pressure
22:49would cause a stroke
22:49if you didn't slow down.
22:51You didn't slow down.
22:53You couldn't.
22:54The firm was you
22:55and you were the firm.
22:57Every client
22:58who walked through the door
22:59came because of your name.
23:00Every brief filed
23:02had your signature.
23:03Every negotiation
23:04had your voice
23:05on the other end.
23:06You slept on the couch
23:08in your office
23:08three nights a week.
23:10You missed your son's
23:11first steps.
23:12Your wife told you
23:13she was leaving
23:14and you asked
23:15if it could wait
23:15until after the trial.
23:17It couldn't.
23:18She left.
23:19But the firm grew.
23:21You hired your first associate,
23:23then your second,
23:24then a paralegal
23:25and a real office manager.
23:27You moved to a bigger space,
23:29then a floor
23:30in a real building,
23:31then two floors.
23:33Clients kept coming.
23:34Your reputation
23:35kept spreading.
23:36You won cases
23:37that other lawyers said
23:39were unwinnable.
23:40You structured deals
23:41that made your clients
23:42hundreds of millions
23:43of dollars.
23:44You built a name
23:45that meant something
23:46in this city.
23:47Now the firm
23:48has your name
23:49on the door
23:50in brass letters
23:51three inches tall.
23:52There are 200 attorneys.
23:54There are offices
23:55in four cities.
23:57There are practice groups
23:58and departments
23:59and committees.
24:00The firm has a life
24:01of its own.
24:02It doesn't need you
24:04the way it once did.
24:05The young partners
24:06are running things now.
24:07They have their own clients,
24:09their own relationships,
24:10their own vision
24:11for where the firm
24:12should go.
24:13You come into the office
24:14three days a week.
24:15Your corner office
24:16is the biggest
24:17in the building.
24:18Nobody uses it
24:19when you're not there.
24:21Your name
24:21is on the stationery.
24:22Your photograph
24:24hangs in the main
24:25conference room.
24:26Associates know
24:27who you are
24:27but they don't
24:28really know you.
24:30You are a legend,
24:32a portrait on the wall.
24:34They tell stories
24:34about you
24:35at firm retreats
24:36the way people
24:36tell stories
24:37about someone
24:38who has already died.
24:39You attend
24:40the annual partner dinner
24:41every December.
24:42You sit at the head
24:43of the table.
24:44Someone gives a toast
24:46to the founder.
24:47You stand
24:48and say a few words.
24:49You look out
24:50at the faces.
24:51Most of them
24:52are strangers.
24:53The people
24:54you built this firm
24:54with are retired
24:55or dead
24:56or practicing
24:57somewhere else.
24:58The firm
24:59has your name
25:00but it doesn't
25:01have your fingerprints
25:01anymore.
25:02It has become
25:03something larger
25:04than you ever planned.
25:05Something that
25:06will outlive you.
25:07You wanted that once.
25:09You worked
25:10your entire life
25:10for that.
25:11Now that it's here
25:12you feel pride
25:13about that.
25:14You also feel
25:15something else.
25:17Something closer
25:17to grief.
25:19The firm
25:19was your life
25:20and your life's work
25:21and now
25:22it belongs
25:23to other people.
25:24They will change it.
25:26They will reshape it.
25:27They will make decisions
25:28you disagree with
25:29and your name
25:30will still be on the door
25:32through all of it.
25:33You drive home alone.
25:35The house is quiet.
25:37Your second wife
25:38is asleep.
25:39Your son
25:40from your first marriage
25:41calls on Sundays sometimes.
25:42He's a teacher.
25:44He didn't go
25:44to law school.
25:45You used to be
25:46disappointed about that.
25:48Now you think
25:49he might have been
25:49the smart one.
25:51Somewhere in a lecture
25:52hall right now
25:53a first year law student
25:54is being called on
25:55for the first time.
25:56She didn't raise her hand.
25:58She isn't ready.
25:59The professor
26:00is asking about a case
26:02she read three times
26:03and still doesn't
26:04fully understand.
26:05Her heart is pounding.
26:07Her classmates
26:08are watching.
26:09She is about to stumble
26:10through an answer
26:11that will be picked apart
26:12in front of 200 people.
26:14She has no idea
26:15what she's getting into.
26:16The billable hours
26:18and the all-nighters
26:19and the politics
26:20and the partnership track.
26:22The golden handcuffs
26:24and the way
26:25this profession
26:25will reshape her
26:26into someone
26:27she doesn't recognize yet.
26:29She thinks
26:30she wants to be a lawyer.
26:31She doesn't know
26:32what that means.
26:33Not really.
26:34But she'll learn.
26:36They always do.
26:37The cycle continues.
26:39The cycle continues.