Biglaw

70 Percent Of New Partners Are Dissatisfied With Their Job

Despite the promotion, new partners can find themselves hurting financially.

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Biglaw partnership is often viewed as the promised land — after working through the years-long gauntlet of associateship, when a hardworking attorney finally makes it to partner, it seems to all the world that they’ve finally “made it.” But as with many a long-sought-after goals, the reality falls short of the dream.

According to ALM’s New Partner Survey of 425 attorneys recently elevated to partnership, over 70 percent said they were dissatisfied with at least some part of their new position. But what exactly do they have to complain about?

Well, a lot of things, as it turns out. A lot of these newly minted partners said bias was a source of concern, with 9.6 percent saying gender bias was causing dissatisfaction with their job. Another 10.1 percent cited with cronyism as an issue; 1.4 percent said racial bias was a problem; less than 1 percent pointed to sexual orientation bias; and 3.1 percent said age bias was the cause of dissatisfaction.

But the areas that cause the greatest consternation for new partners — over 10 percent responded they were “not at all satisfied” in each of these areas — were work-life balance, compensation, and training of partnership. As one survey respondent said:

“It was like they said, ‘Congratulations! The rules just changed, but we are not going to tell you what they are,’” one respondent, a third-year partner, said.

The real jaw-dropping number was the 71 percent who are disappointed with compensation. Far from being a huge payday, some new partners actually found themselves seeing a cut in their compensation:

One respondent said they were disappointed to be “treated as a glorified associate for purposes of compensation and bonus (and, thanks to the midyear associate raises, I’ll make less than most senior associates this year).”

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All of a sudden, despite the promotion, these attorneys can find themselves hurting financially:

Another said that buying shares, along with lower-than-expected pay and an end to performance bonuses, had placed a strain on finances. “It’s really depressing and demoralizing to get a promotion and then to have to put your family on a strict monthly budget,” that respondent said.

Getting that brass ring isn’t as great as it seems.

headshotKathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, and host of The Jabot podcast. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter (@Kathryn1).

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