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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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