Tips for your 1st year of partnership

Now that all the buzz around being appointed to the partnership has settled, the reality of being a partner in a law firm can leave you feeling a little overwhelmed, or at the least a little uncertain as to what this partnership thing is really going to look like, writes Stuart Barnett.

Ideally, it will be an organic transition that means you are largely doing what you did prior to having the title, with a bit more responsibility thrown in and a role you get to grow into over time. The reality can be a little different: everything is the same, yet different.

How you deal with this transition is a very individual thing, dependent on your firm, your practice area, and the expectations of others and your expectations of yourself.

The art, much like life, seems to be working out what you can control and what you cannot, and acting accordingly.

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Building a team can be a lawyer’s most rewarding job

The task of creating and maintaining a collegiate, supportive and engaged team environment may end up being the most rewarding thing that one does as a legal professional, writes Stuart Barnett.

“Happy teams are all alike, every unhappy team is unhappy in its own way,” said Tolstoy, with more than a hint of poetic license.

Teams tend to be most noticeable in their dysfunction, not when they are running smoothly. You know that because the problems you are dealing with (or not dealing with because it is all a bit too hard) take up a disproportionate amount of your time.

You can look at this in a particularly utilitarian light: a high-performing team is the key to building and maintaining a sustainable practice. Leveraging associates can be very profitable. Therefore, you need to sort your people’s issues. You know, get better people to better serve you, so you can hit your budget and maintain this in perpetuity. After all, you have clients to serve.

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