Career Center Survey Results: Top Partners to Work For – Smaller Legal Markets (Part 2)
We hope you’ve enjoyed following the Career Center’s Top Partners series through which we’ve recognized Biglaw partners from around the country who exemplify what it means to be an exceptional partner who associates are actually happy to work for. Thanks to all the readers who took the time to submit such glowing nominations and give some well-deserved recognition to the 60 partners highlighted in this series.
Today we conclude with the best partners in the smaller legal markets of Chicago, Dallas, and London. While the markets in which they work may be smaller, their firms are some of the biggest names in Biglaw: Winston & Strawn, Sidley Austin, Katten Muchin, K&L Gates, SNR Denton, and Latham & Watkins.
Let’s see who the final six partners are….
Chicago
Cab Morris. An associate commends Morris, a Winston & Strawn corporate partner, for being “a great partner to work for” because “[h]e takes time to teach and includes associates in almost everything,” and “he is respectful of an associate’s schedule and time.”
Robert Verigan. A Sidley Austin corporate partner, Verigan “[e]xemplifies the Sidley way” by being “a really nice, down-to-earth, and incredibly intelligent partner.”
Sheldon Zenner. Zenner, a Katten Muchin litigation partner, is known to be “considerate to young associates’ time” and for giving “interesting work assignments.”
Dallas
Bobby Majumder. Biglaw would be a better place with more partners like Majumder, a K&L Gates corporate partner. One associate explains: “I have worked for many partners over the last seven years and I have to say that Bobby is the exemplar of how a partner should act toward associates. He trains, mentors, and actually cares about the lives of the associates he works with. In addition to being a rainmaker, he has always been a great mentor, a good friend to those he works with, and has paid out of his own pocket to help associates. I’ve met a lot of lawyers and he is without equal. I give high grades rarely, but he deserves the best marks available.” Another associate adds: “Bobby’s philosophy is that he wants to ‘train associates to be partners and leaders,’ and he makes it clear in the way that he interacts with each associate that works for him. He has no interest in his associates being fungible drones; he actually is proactive in helping them with their careers. He consistently sets the bar for respect, courtesy, professionalism, mentoring, and training. Associates have been known to turn down offers at other top firms to stay with Bobby at K&L. If more partners were like him, Biglaw wouldn’t have such abysmal associate retention rates.”
Mike Moore. Although Moore, an SNR Denton litigation partner, may have a “docket [that] contains only bet the company litigation for brand name clients,” “Mike routinely asks associates to play key roles on all his trial teams, and provides a ton of opportunity and experience for any associate willing to take on the challenge.”
London
Jocelyn Seitzman. It’s easy to see why one associate absolutely loves working for Seitzman, a Latham & Watkins corporate partner: “Jocelyn has all of the usual qualities of partners at Latham — brilliant, uber-friendly, dedicated, etc. — but those aren’t what sets her apart. What sets Jocelyn apart is that she is absolutely hilarious. I mean *seriously* funny. Her humor can make even the crappiest of situations enjoyable, which I unfortunately know all too well as she and I have done one or two 100-hour weeks together in my time here. She’s a great mentor and friend to all, and I honestly just feel sort of sad for my Biglaw friends at other firms who don’t get to work with partners who rock like Jocelyn Seitzman.”
If you’re stuck at a firm where the partners just don’t measure up, Lateral Link’s experienced team of recruiters can help you make a lateral move.
