Path to Partnership: Here’s What You Need to Do to Stay on Track

The road to partnership can feel long, opaque, exciting, and also discouraging. Associates are often told that “doing good work” is enough, but that is only part of the story.

Partnership isn’t about waiting for a promotion. It’s about showing, through actions and measurable results, that a lawyer already thinks and acts like an owner. That they are building long term relationships inside and outside of the firm.

Lawyers who make partner operate with an owner’s mindset. They take responsibility for outcomes, build meaningful relationships with clients and colleagues, and leverage the firm’s resources, including industry groups, business development teams, and cross-practice opportunities, to expand reach and grow the firm’s bottom line.

Warning signs that the partnership path may be narrowing include relying solely on billable work without client exposure, limited visibility with the partnership and decision makers, restricted access to strategic information, being pulled from matters, being passed over for consideration, or failing to show how efforts translate into revenue and firm growth.

Course correction is possible. Associates who cultivate client touchpoints, take leadership roles on matters, and use the firm’s platform to strengthen external relationships to demonstrate the long-term value firms seek in future partners.

Investment

Associates who take ownership over matters, mentor more junior associates, and show partners how they think stand out from the rest of the associate class. This goes beyond just producing output and waiting to be told what to do. It looks like anticipating next steps, learning partner preferences, and showing judgment.

From a legal work perspective, an owner’s mindset also requires visible investment: volunteering to draft briefs, sending client-ready work, engaging in internal committees, showing an interest in growing revenue, and offering recommendations. The groundwork needs to be laid out by demonstrating commitment to the firm.

These steps allow associates to take on leadership roles, business development opportunities, and additional training. For some lawyers, whose only focus is the legal work, this is where some falter. Associates who continually invest in establishing their firm and client relationships with decision makers in a genuine way will have a better chance of being considered for additional opportunities.

Building Mentorship Relationships

By year four or five, having a mentor is critical. Mentorship opportunities don’t just happen; they are co-created. The most successful associates seek out and take feedback, send concise updates, flag decision points, and ask clarifying questions to make it easy for partners to guide and advocate for them.

Lawyers who proactively and concisely articulate how others can support them on their partnership journey will make it easy for senior lawyers to support them. Feedback can become mentorship when you treat it as a pattern to be studied rather than a one-off correction. Applying a growth mindset to issues and mistakes will pay off.

Partners notice when associates apply previously communicated feedback without being told twice. Self-awareness and initiative taking signal that you’re worth championing. Be clear and ready to communicate your strengths, identify gaps, and ask for specific opportunities.

Visibility Matters

As lawyers increase in seniority, it becomes critical to expand client contact and business development efforts.

• Become involved in the firm’s marketing and visibility efforts. Support CLEs and webinars, write thought leadership, attend conferences, network, and support firm-wide initiatives.
• Make use of the firm’s resources. Communicate with the marketing and business development team to learn about strategies from the practice group and the firm. These relationships will provide you with access to pitch opportunities and general understanding of how the group is targeting key contacts. Keep track of how you’re building your network and show the practice group leader and the partnership committee how you’ve supported the firm for growth.
• Connect with the professional development team and participate in the programming and training provided to associates and counsel. Leverage this relationship and communicate the topics you would be most interested in learning about.
• Connect and network with the executive or partnership committee. Those who are making decisions about an associate or counsel’s career path should have a good understanding of their contribution before they are put up for a partnership vote. You don’t want the first time the committee has seen your name to be at the voting stage. Treat these relationships importantly as well.
• If your firm requires a personal statement for partnership consideration, it should do more than outline tasks or responsibilities—it should tell the story of the associate/counsel’s measurable impact and make clear why admitting them to the partnership is a natural next step. The personal statement should demonstrate how the candidate will add value as a partner not only sustaining but also expanding the firm’s client base, profitability, and reputation. It’s an opportunity to show the partnership that this individual is already operating at a partner level and will integrate seamlessly into the firm’s leadership and business development engine.

Instead of reading like a résumé, it should highlight key metrics and contributions, such as:

• Revenue growth and collections they’ve generated, clients they’ve brought in, and relationships they’ve deepened
• Matters they’ve led and the scope/complexity of those engagements
• Business development activity, such as the number of client meetings, pitches contributed, and internal cross-selling efforts
• Leadership within the firm, such as mentoring junior lawyers, building practice efficiencies, or strengthening culture

Consistency and Timeline

In the later-associate years, visibility becomes critical, though it can take many forms. Every matter is an opportunity to demonstrate reliability and initiative.

Success doesn’t require being the most extroverted lawyer in the room; it requires being clear, dependable, and consistent with colleagues and with the firm’s clients. Don’t wait to invest in firm or client relationships until you are on partnership track. This must be an ongoing exercise that can be done thoughtfully and authentically.

Partners invest in colleagues who reduce stress and make their lives easier. Within that framework, associates can still find their own way to shine through client relationships, subject-matter expertise, leadership on matters, or by building trust as the go-to lawyer who gets things done.

Eventually, a candidacy for partnership should move from implicit to explicit. Associates can seek clarity on benchmarks and measurable timelines, remaining on the lookout for deadlines that keep shifting.

Asking questions about why timelines are moving, what additional steps are expected, and how a potential partnership aligns with the firm’s broader goals provides critical insight for career planning. Taking ownership sometimes means recognizing when a current environment is no longer a great fit and pursuing a firm that better aligns with long-term ambitions.

Partnership isn’t about waiting to be chosen. It’s about taking ownership, building momentum, and combining mentorship, consistency, and a business-minded approach to position oneself for success.

This article does not necessarily reflect the opinion of Bloomberg Industry Group, Inc., the publisher of Bloomberg Law, Bloomberg Tax, and Bloomberg Government, or its owners.

Author Information

Megan Senese is co-founder and principal at stage, a women-owned business development and legal marketing firm.

Emma Larson is partner at Freshwater Counsel, a boutique legal recruiting agency specializing in elite law firm placements.

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