Chintan Zalani
Law Firm Partnerships: A Definitive Guide for 2025
What is a Law Firm Partner?
A law firm partner is a senior lawyer who has partial ownership or full equity ownership in the firm, and takes on leadership roles. They handle legal work, grow the business, manage the firm, and guide younger lawyers.
How Many Partners Can a Law Firm Have?
There’s no fixed limit on the number of partners a law firm can have. It’s entirely dependent on your firm’s size, profitability, structure, and how it decides to grant (or not grant) partnerships. There are solo practices, and there are international firms with even hundreds or thousands of partners.
Types of Partnerships
- Equity Partner. An equity partner is a part-owner of the law firm who invests capital, and in return, shares in the firm’s profits. An equity partnership grants significant voting rights and influence on a firm’s strategic direction.
- Non-Equity Partner. A non-equity partner holds a high-ranking title but does not own a stake in the firm. Non-equity partners receive a steady salary and, depending on the firm, receive bonuses.
- Junior Partner. A junior partner is a lower-tier partner who works between associates and senior partners. They help manage clients and develop firm strategies while working on a partnership track to become a senior partner.
- Salaried Partner. A salaried partner is involved in the firm’s operations and decision-making, but doesn’t have an ownership stake in the firm and earns a fixed salary instead.
- Managing Partner. A managing partner is the highest-ranking partner in a law firm. They typically have a financial stake in the firm and oversee the firm’s day-to-day management, including case oversight, financial performance, and business strategies.
Traditional Law Firm Partnership Structures Vs. Other Types
The types of law firm structures have evolved over time, from traditional partnerships to more innovative models. Traditional law firm partnership models focus on seniority, partner ownership, and firm-wide decisions. Non-traditional law firm partnerships focus on performance-based pay, specialization, or multiple partnership levels with different responsibilities and rewards.
Traditional Partnership Structures
Lockstep
The Lockstep Model in law firms is a pay system based on seniority. Senior partners earn more as they stay longer at the firm, not based on how much they bill or their performance. Partners who joined the same year get the same pay, and raises are set in advance.
Merit-based Compensation
The merit-based compensation model rewards attorneys for their performance using metrics like billable hours, client origination, revenue, and case success, along with leadership and firm growth contributions.
Non-traditional Partnership Structures
Eat-What-You-Kill Model
The Eat-What-You-Kill (EWYK) model rewards partners based on their individual revenue, promoting an entrepreneurial and performance-driven culture. Common in smaller firms, this model boosts personal productivity but may reduce collaboration and firm unity.
Hybrid Models
Hybrid law firm pay plans mix both seniority and performance. They offer a base salary that goes up with time worked. Attorneys can also earn bonuses for bringing in clients, working more hours, and showing leadership. Some plans reward lawyers for getting new business, combining team effort with individual success.
Profit-Sharing Model
The profit-sharing model in law firms means sharing some of the firm’s profits among its partners. The share each partner gets depends on factors like seniority, client origination, or role within the firm. Profits are usually shared quarterly or annually, and partners might get payments in advance of their share. This model ties partner pay to the firm’s success, but it can be hard to manage and may cause competition or unhappiness if the profit-sharing formula seems unfair.
Solo Law Firms
A solo law firm is a legal business run by one lawyer. This lawyer is in charge of everything, from providing legal services down to administrative responsibilities. This setup gives the lawyer full control and the ability to make quick business decisions without consulting other lawyers.
How Are Law Firm Partners Chosen: Qualifications You Need
Law firm partners are selected based on their experience, legal skills, and ability to bring in business. Many firms promote senior lawyers, so candidates usually need 6-10 years of practice, handling complex cases and retaining clients, while others consider lawyers who possess excellent business development skills.
- Performance Review: Associates are reviewed yearly by all the partners for billable hours, case results, client feedback, teamwork, and overall firm contributions.
- Business Development: Firms evaluate a candidate’s ability to attract more business and grow new client relationships, which is critical for the firm’s profitability and long-term success.
I intentionally targeted client development, embedding myself in local Maryland industries, places where my future clients would be, doing good work that gained real trust. At the time partnership talks began, I was generating more than 30% of the firm’s new revenue, so my role was crucial
- Nominations and Voting: In some law firms, especially for managing partners, a nomination process and a vote by current partners or a committee decides who gets selected. There are often rules about who can be nominated and how many votes are needed.
What Are The Benefits of Becoming a Partner?
Achieving partnership within a law firm marks a significant professional milestone—one that brings with it a range of compelling benefits. Below are the core advantages, each offering unique value to a partner’s career trajectory:
- Profit Share – Partners are entitled to a share of the firm’s profits, aligning financial rewards with individual and collective success.
- Level of Influence – From business strategy to operational policies, partners have a seat at the table in a firm’s strategic decision-making.
- Increased Flexibility – Alongside elevated status comes increased autonomy, allowing partners to determine their areas of focus and manage their schedules with greater flexibility.
- Better Business Opportunities – Being a partner opens up access to high-level professional networks in the legal industry, paving the way for more client development and opens doors to high-profile cases and new business ventures.
How Much Does a Partner at a Law Firm Make?
The average partner makes between $133,000 and $204,000 a year, based on data from websites like ZipRecruiter and PayScale. Most partners earn somewhere between $41,000 and $228,000 a year.
In large, prestigious firms, partners can earn a lot more—some make around $675,000, and the top partners can make over $1 million a year.
Where a partner works also matters. For example, in California, the average partner makes about $131,000 a year, and some make over $238,000.
What Do Law Firm Partners Do?
With partnership comes multiple responsibilities, both for your firm and your clients. Here are the main tasks of a law firm partner:
Case Oversight
Partners play a critical leadership role by setting legal strategy, ensuring high-quality work, and overseeing complex cases. They supervise associates and staff, providing guidance, feedback, and mentorship to uphold professional standards. This includes a duty to prevent misconduct and ensure compliance with firm and ethical rules—failure to do so can result in serious consequences for the partner.
Client Origination
Partners generate new business by attracting and retaining clients, nurturing relationships, and representing the firm in networking and external engagements to drive revenue growth. Generating new clients and helping them win their cases is a top priority for partners.
Attorney Paul Deloughery believes that solving clients’ problems is the true measure of success, more than outward appearances.
The biggest lesson I’ve learned is that success doesn’t come from impressing clients with fancy cars or prestigious offices – it comes from solving specific problems exceptionally well.
Firm Management
Partners contribute to their firm’s strategic planning, policy formation, and operational and financial health to ensure the firm’s growth. You’ll need the mentality of a business owner, overseeing the financial side of the firm in addition to managing clients.
As Founding Partner Seann Malloy quickly realized, partners need the skill to manage
Being a strong lawyer wasn’t enough — I needed to be a strategic business person. Budgeting, growth planning, operational decision-making, and mentoring our next-gen lawyers are my responsibilities now.
Training
Partners mentor and supervise junior lawyers and staff, and provide their expert insights on legal skills, ethical standards, and professional development to uphold the firm’s quality and reputation.
Civil lawyer Roy L. Kaufmann values mentorship and shares how it got him through challenging decisions in his career.
One of the most unexpected elements of my path to partnership was realizing the importance of mentorship. I was fortunate to have mentors who guided me through the intricacies of legal practice and leadership. I came to appreciate how valuable mentorship was when I found myself facing complex challenges or tough decisions.
What Are The Challenges in Becoming a Law Firm Partner?
You might find a few challenges on your way to becoming a law firm partner. Here we get real-life advice from law firm partners on how to navigate these obstacles:
The Debate on Experience vs. Skill
Aspiring partners struggle with the balance between experience and skill. Some firms value loyalty and time served, while others focus on results, leadership, and a strong professional reputation. This can leave high-achieving lawyers feeling overlooked in seniority-based cultures.
Attorney Adam Krolikowski focused on honing his skills and pushing himself to take on cases that other lawyers won’t.
The biggest challenge I faced was taking on complex cases that other attorneys wouldn’t touch. This required developing specialized expertise in documenting non-economic damages like pain and suffering, loss of enjoyment of life, and loss of consortium. These elements often represent the largest portion of a client’s recovery but are frequently overlooked.
Focus on Origination and Stellar Client Experience
Attracting new clients and building strong relationships is crucial for partnerships. To become a partner, you need to understand how important clients are to the business. Not only because they bring revenue, but because they trust you to help them with their legal battles.
Civil lawyer Roy L. Kaufmann shares that he chose to prioritize his clients even though it wasn’t always profitable for the firm.
The demands of clients and the firm’s financial expectations felt like they were pulling me in opposite directions. It took a lot of discipline and strategic planning to manage this effectively. Over time, I learned that you can’t always please everyone, but you can always make sure your clients feel heard and respected. That became a priority for me as I advanced in the firm.
Developing an Expertise
Law firms seek future partners with a strong niche or reputation in a specific legal area. This expertise takes years to develop, but choosing a specialty in high demand and aligned with a firm’s goals can significantly impact promotion chances.
This is exactly what attorney Nick Norris focused on to become a partner at Watson Norris.
The specialization strategy paid off dramatically – I’ve now litigated over 1,000 employment cases and tried more than 20 to verdict.
Or like lawyer Adam Krolikowski, you might be given unique circumstances in practicing law, which then gives you the advantage to be highly specialized in your field.
What’s unusual about my path is my experience practicing in both Northern and Southern California courtrooms, as well as handling cases in both State and Federal courts. This diversity of experience has been invaluable in developing effective negotiation strategies with insurance companies, which ultimately benefits my clients through better settlements and trial outcomes when necessary.
Inhouse vs. External Promotions
Some law firms might prefer to promote from within to preserve loyalty and strengthen their culture, which can limit opportunities, especially when internal candidates don’t quite match what the firm needs at the moment.
On the other hand, bringing in a lawyer from outside the firm can add new skills and fresh client relationships, but these candidates often face skepticism and a tougher road to integration. As a result, external lawyers have to work even harder to prove themselves.
Whether you’re coming from inside or outside the firm, it’s not enough to be a strong lawyer—you also need to understand firm dynamics, build relationships, and provide valuable contributions to your firm. This constant balancing act between internal and external candidates creates both uncertainty and competition, making the journey to partnership complex, but not impossible.
Feel Ready to Choose The Right Law Firm Partnership Model For Your Firm Now?
Choosing the right law firm partnership structure is a crucial step that decides the future of your legal career. Whether you opt for equity, a hybrid, or a unique model, the right marketing strategy is essential for success.
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