Why So Secretive?

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Why So Secretive?

[Erica Winter] Does a closed door policy at top law firms mean anything to your career? Should it? We explore these questions and more as they relate to the possibilities of advancement for attorneys seeking to rise to the top.

Recently, we set out to write a story profiling

On the other hand, yes, it does matter. If

corporate and banking law. These facts

partners at prestigious New York City law

you are already an associate at one of these

may or may not hold for firms in smaller

firms. We wanted to speak to a few of these

firms, and you are questioning whether you

metropolitan regions with lower profiles; but,

successful attorneys, ask them how they

should move on or stay, whether things will

according to our insiders, they are true for

got where they are today, and what tips they

change for you, whether your firm is different

the vast majority of the major players.

might offer to those of you who want to snare

from all the rest, whether making partner

that coveted associate spot and rise within

will make things different than they are now

“A hundred percent” of your time is the

the ranks to partner.

- then you should read on.

firm’s time says Peter Wilkniss, COO of Law-

We contacted firms. We contacted partners.

We are here to let you know that you are

Authority. Wilkniss graduated from Columbia

There seemed to be interest. It looked like

not crazy, that yes, things really are as they

Law School and was an associate for two

it was going to happen. And then - nothing.

seem, and no, they are not going to change.

years at Wachtell, Lipton, Rose & Katz before

Crossing, BCG Attorney Search, and Legal

deciding the job was not for him. “I had other

Several polite but firm “No’s.”

If, knowing this, you decide to stay - good for

things I wanted to do in my life,” he says.

And this leads us to ask: Why? Why wouldn’t

you, forge ahead with your eyes open. And if

If you want to be a successful lawyer at one

a firm be eager to have its partners talk with

you find out that you are not alone and decide

of the top-tier firms, you have to be working

us for about half an hour to tell us about

to move on to smaller and better things, and

all the time. You have to be available to your

what their careers are like, and how they got

go in a different career direction, then that’s

clients twenty-four-seven in order to com-

where they are?

good too.

mand such high fees from them. Also, many

Since the firms aren’t talking, we turned

What we’re doing, overall, is openly talking

deal with - corporate mergers, government

to our own in-house experts to examine

about what these firms want to keep quiet

investigations - actually do require this level

this question, and to see if this closed-door

- no matter how many people already know

of attention, says Wilkniss. You have to be

policy among prestigious firms should be

about it.

there, or be available no matter what time it

of the time-sensitive matters these firms

is or where you are or what is happening in

something that you consider in your career planning.

The “secrets...”

your life.

To answer the last question first (does this

…are actually not secrets at all, they are

And if you are doubting that this is the life

matter to your career?): the answers are yes,

just facts that prestigious law firms do not

you want to live, and you are an associate

and no.

want law students, associates or partners to

at one of these firms or on track to become

think about too much. Since we do want you

one, then you might want to reconsider your

No, it doesn’t matter, because if you are re-

to think about your career, we are laying the

career path. Wilkniss did, deciding to leave

ally on track to becoming an associate at a

cards out on the table so that you at least

Wachtell Lipton in 2000 to help start a soft-

large prestigious law firm, you may know all

know what the game is before you decide

ware company, later moving on to his current

of the upcoming information already, and you

whether or not to keep playing.

position.

probably have decided that it’s ok with you.

You get it, you are on your way, you accept

These unspoken facts pertain to top-tier law

the nature of this beast, and you want to be a

firms based in New York, San Francisco and

There is still a deep belief among some firms

part of it anyway.

Los Angeles, almost all of which are doing

and attorneys that law is a profession and not

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CAREER COUNSELOR’S CORNER

a business. This belief leads to a disdain for

their lives are the law.

Gibbs. Maybe the chances of making partner at some of these firms are not as good as they

anything perceived as publicizing or advertising attorney services (see more on this point,

So how do you make partner at one of the top

were ten years ago when the current partners

below).

firms? Simple, says our unnamed recruiter.

were starting out from law school.

Go to one of the best schools, be the top of The concept of “profession” can also lead to

your class, get the job as an associate and bill

So, firms would not want their current part-

some rough encounters with the business

2500 or more hours a year, “forget your life,

ners talking about how they made it, because

side for lawyers who don’t expect it. One

you’ll do nothing else,” teach, write articles,

they don’t want to create expectations of a

legal recruiter who we spoke with, alum of

network within the firm to try to find a mentor

system that is no longer in place. Forms do

Georgetown Law who asked that we not give

who can take you under his wing.

not want to set a standard for success that

his name, was the third-most senior associate

they cannot fulfill any longer. “The blueprint

at an AmLaw top ten law firm when someone

Or, you could simply be one of the few out

came into his office one day and said that

there who are truly brilliant at the law, and

Monday was his last day, goodbye.

you will still have to work like crazy anyway.

Of course, that’s life, and you can get fired from any job at any time. But - there is a myth

doesn’t always work,” says Gibbs.

Also, some firms that position themselves as “lifestyle firms,” meaning that you will have

So, why so secretive?

that, because the law is a ‘profession’ and

a family life as well as swimming with the biggest legal fish out there, may not want you

not a business, that these sorts of sudden,

First of all, when representatives from one of

to really have concrete information on exactly

financially-motivated firings won’t happen.

these firms told us that the firm only wanted

what that phrase means. You may be able to

There is a party line, in some firms, that the

to comment publicly on issues pertaining to

have a baby, or be with your partner while she

firm will take care of the lawyers it hires, and

cases, they definitely were not talking about

is having one, but you will still have to work

that if the lawyers work and give their all, that

their own cases, says Peter Wilkniss.

your fingers to the bone.

is that you are leaving your family to join the

What prestigious firms do like to comment on

Then, there is the more image-conscious

family of the firm.

is other firms’ cases - the more prominent

reason for not wanting to talk with a web

the better. So when reporters do stories on

site. It is the belief, says Wilkniss, that law

This idea of tenure-track law jobs, if it ever

Enron, or talk about the latest Supreme Court

firm advertising and marketing is déclassé

was true, is not any longer. ‘Once you’re in,

ruling, high-level firms want their partners to

- and partners’ talking about their jobs with

you’re in’ can no longer be said of these posi-

comment publicly on those issues. The think-

LawCrossing is wedged into that “advertis-

tions. And the level of care that a firm has for

ing is that this kind of exposure gives the kind

ing” category. This may not be a truly accurate

its lawyers depends entirely on the corporate

of publicity that brings in elite clients, says

classification, says Wilkniss.

culture of the firm. Whether the practice of

Wilkniss.

they will be cared for and rewarded. The idea

law is, in itself, a profession or a business

So here’s our side of it.

will remain debatable. There is no question,

So, one of the reasons these firms’ lips are

however, that law firms themselves are busi-

sealed: since potential clients of these firms

Talking with media like LawCrossing is a

nesses, and will act like them.

do not read LawCrossing (presumably), then

chance for a prestigious firm to show potential

there is no perceived need to have their

new hires an actual gentler, easier face, says

As for corporate cultures, they do differ. The

names touted on this site, and in similar

Wilkniss, and could be a good marketing

firm that fired our source is known, says Peter

media.

opportunity for drawing in the best and the

Wilkniss, for not caring a bit about any of their

brightest. (This idea was even expressed to us

lawyers’ lives.

Some other reasons could be that they do

by one representative from a firm; although it

In contrast, Wilkniss’s former firm, Wachtell

not want to discourage associates at other

seemed as though she was later overruled by

Lipton, was not a cold-hearted place; it’s just

firms or law students from coming into the

higher-ups.)

that the people who succeeded there did not

fold, says Robert Gibbs, an attorney recruiter

really want to put their own personal lives be-

with BCG Attorney Search, and an alumnus of

Of course, the best firms will always attract

fore their legal lives. In some cases “it’s just

Columbia Law.

excellent attorneys. And yet, given the choice

self-selection,” says Wilkniss. The lawyers

between working at a top ten firm that allows

at Wachtell Lipton, and at many firms like it,

Possibly, the way that the current partners

time for family leave and one that does not,

don’t even think about having “lives,” because

made it to the top is no longer viable, says

a highly accomplished Harvard Law student

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might opt for the firm with more awareness of family life. Note: we said “more awareness.”

Even the most sensitive top ten firms are far less sensitive than many people are willing to accept, as we noted above.

But, for those who seek nothing else but to be a partner at one of these firms, but are still modern enough to want to see their families on a semi-regular basis, firms would do well, says Wilkniss, to promote their human sides in order to attract the best and brightest who want to have kids and see them too.

If he had stayed in law practice, Wilkniss says, he would be asking this question: where can I ply my trade on a high level but still have a personal life?

For those firms that actually do pay some attention to their lawyers’ personal lives, showing this human side could serve as a recruiting tool for prestigious firms as they vie for the top prospects coming out of the best law schools - or as they try to keep the lawyers they have.

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