Page 2 - Partnership

S2 | MONDAY, MARCH 21, 2016 | Partnership

INSIDE

Firms Promote More Corporate Lawyers,

Women to Partner

Firms take a long term approach when their New York partner promotions.
BY CHRISTINE SIMMONS
promoting attorneys, he said, but “there’s Two firms had no promotions in New
no question you have to consider the basis York, including Schulte Roth & Zabel, which

RESPONDING to a record volume of merg- of your business.”
promoted a single attorney to partner, and
ers and acquisitions, New York law firms Global M&A volume in 2015 surpassed $5 Morgan Lewis, despite its 10-year record high
advanced scores of corporate and transac- trillion, according to Dealogic data. This vol- of new partners. “Our promotions are based
tional lawyers to partnership in their latest ume broke the previous record of $4.6 trillion on practice groups and practice areas, not
round of promotions.
set in 2007.
geographic locations or ofices,” McKeon said.
While the overall number of new partners Some irms promoted no litigators to part-
S4 Improving Morale: is steady at many of the largest New York nership. Willkie Farr & Gallagher’s ive partner Women Partners
irms, the majority of new partners continues promotions irmwide were all in corporate
Five Rules for Making to lean corporate. Meanwhile, the number and inancial services, while Cahill Gordon The 25 law irms advanced 111 women
Associate Assignments
BY MARC S. FRIEDMAN, of women promoted at these irms inched & Reindel’s three new partners were all in irmwide to partner, representing about 32.3
upward.
corporate.
percent of the total number of new partners.
NATALIE LOEB
The New York Law Journal surveyed the In its latest promotions, Davis Polk & Last year, only about 24 percent of new
AND GORDON LOEB
25 irms employing the largest number of law- Wardwell irmwide promoted three corpo- partners at the same top irms were women.
yers in the state, as ranked by the NYLJ 100.
rate lawyers, one litigator and a restructur- Several irms greatly increased the number
S6 Going Private: Key Steps These firms generally did not indicate ing lawyer.
of new female partners, such as White & Case
whether their promotions were to equity or Although the ranks of new corporate part- and Latham & Watkins.
To Successfully Integrate non-equity positions. About 15 of the 25 irms ners have expanded, the number of new part- Women make up nearly half of the new
Government Laterals
have non-equity and equity tiers, according ners irmwide and in New York collectively partner class, or more, at six law irms. Five
BY JOY MARTINI
to National Law Journal data.
saw low overall growth, relecting manage- of Simpson Thacher & Bartlett’s nine new
More than half of the 25 irms’ partnership ment’s tight control of the partnership ranks partners are women; half of Wilson Elser Mos-
S7 To Merge or Not to Merge? classes weighted toward corporate, while liti- and proits.
kowitz Edelman & Dicker’s 14 new partners
BY RONALD H. SHECHTMAN
gators were in the minority, consistent with In their latest promotions, 25 law irms are women and nearly half of Skadden’s class
the previous round of promotions.
elevated 344 lawyers irmwide, close to the are women.
Practice areas considered “corporate” previous round of promotions, when they Davis Polk did not promote any women
S8 Professional Development: include private equity, finance, M&A and promoted 333 lawyers to partner.
last year. Cahill Gordon has not promoted a
A Key Element of Law Firm other transactions, tax and capital markets.
A few irms greatly expanded new part- woman to partner for two consecutive years.
Culture
Latham & Watkins promoted 34 partners ner classes. For example, Morgan Lewis & The New York Law Journal’s igures are
BY ALAN TARTER
irmwide last year, seven of whom handle Bockius, after absorbing hundreds of lawyers close to those of the Diversity & Flexibility
litigation and disputes.
from defunct irm Bingham McCutchen, pro- Alliance, a think tank that seeks to advance
S9 Are Law Firms Ready to Embrace Latham doesn’t promote partners moted 29 lawyers irmwide, up from 17 the and retain women in law irms and to achieve
Culture as a Path to Survival?
directly in response to specific practice year before.
workplace lexibility. The Alliance’s study last
area demands, said Jennifer Van Driesen, Jami McKeon, chairwoman of Morgan year found women made up 34.4 percent of
BY SILVIA L. COULTER
a Latham partner who chairs the firm’s Lewis, said 2015 was the largest new part- newly promoted attorneys at 118 midsize and
associates committee, which recommends ner class in 10 years. She said the Bingham large irms.
attorneys for partnership.
combination added several new practices and The promotion igures, while they were up

“Certainly the fact that it’s been a busy broadened others.
from the previous year, were the same per-
Kris Fischer, Editor-In-Chief practice area helps,” in that associates have Kirkland & Ellis and Skadden, Arps, Slate, centage peaks as 2010 and 2013, the Alliance
Angela Turturro, Sections Editor more opportunities to hone their skill set, she Meagher & Flom increased their partnership said. “We did see a little bit of movement but
said, adding, “When you have an area that is class for a second year in a row.
obviously we would like to see more,” said
Rafal Pytel, Designer
busy and providing really good opportunities, But half of the top irms promoted fewer Alliance president and CEO Manar Morales.
you lose [fewer] people.”
new partners irmwide than their previous “You need to have a real focused look on S
S
But Van Driesen also noted that associates round of promotions, while three had no where women are in the leadership pipeline,”
© 2016 ALM MEDIA PROPERTIES, LLC.
coming up for partnership didn’t have their change.
she said, adding irms also need to look for
careers disrupted by the global inancial crisis Partner promotions are naturally cycli- unconscious bias and make sure women have
THE NEW YORK LAW JOURNAL ® IS A REGISTERED TRADEMARK
OF ALM MEDIA PROPERTIES, LLC.
starting in 2007. In that year, they were irst cal. Several irms that increased promotions opportunities to advance.
and second year associates who were not irmwide two years ago reverted to smaller As for lexibility, some irms have said they
yet specialized.
classes in the last year. This was true for Gib- can offer it in litigation but not M&A, while
For subscriptions and to purchase back issues,
“We’re starting to see people coming up for son, Dunn & Crutcher, which promoted eight other irms have believed the reverse, she
call 1-877-256-2472.
partner” who have had many transactional new partners irmwide in 2015, four fewer said.
For questions regarding reprints and permissions,
opportunities at the time they became spe- than 2014; and Sidley Austin, which has 24 “It can be done in any practice group. It
call 347-227-3382, e-mail [email protected], cialized, she said.
new partners, eight fewer than 2014.
just looks different in terms of how you imple-
or visit almreprints.com.
Law irm consultant Brad Hildebrandt As for promotions of New York lawyers, the ment lexibility,” she said, adding, ultimately,
To track calendar and motion information for individual cases,
call MA 3000 at 212-457-4988.
of Hildebrandt Consulting said while litiga- top law irms elevated to partner 119 lawyers, “it depends on the culture of the irm as to
Send decisions of interest to [email protected]
tion practices have been soft across the compared with 110 a year earlier.
how much they’re willing to embrace it to
To access decisions and articles published in the Law Journal, legal industry, transactional practices such Despite the slight total growth, the major- make it work.”
visit nylj.com.
as M&A, inance and private equity have ity of irms either had the same number of @
been “the strongest practice in the last few promotions in New York or fewer than the |
Christine Simmons can be reached at csimmons@alm.
years.”
previous round. About 10 irms increased
com. Twitter: @chlsimmons
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