Many people generally believe that the more skilled a lawyer becomes, the more that lawyer will excel in his or her career. Of course, it is true that legal skill is an important factor when making hiring and promotion decisions, and this could set a lawyer apart from colleagues. However, the amount of work that a lawyer generates over the years may be more important than legal skill when it comes to a number of career decisions.
Business development is less important when an attorney is an associate at a law firm. Most people understand that associates are simply at a shop to bill hours, and partners usually do not expect associates to generate work. If an associate does generate business, this is of course usually looked upon favorably by partners at a law firm. Indeed, many shops have origination bonuses available to associates who sign clients, since this is by no means part of the job description of being an associate attorney.
However, as associates get more experienced, partners begin to expect that the associates will develop work if they want to become promoted to partner. Failing to develop work is usually not an impediment to being considered for of counsel or other similar positions, but law firm managers rightfully expect that associates will develop business if they wish to enter the partnership ranks.
Developing business shows that a candidate for partnership has a separate set of skills that is necessary for managers at the firm. Moreover, attorneys that have developed business show that they are more indispensable and may be promoted to partner lest they seek opportunities outside of the firm. At bottom, legal skill would mean nothing if a law firm does not have work to perform, so business development is a huge part of partnership consideration at many law firms.
The ability to develop business is also critically important to attorneys when they make moves later in their careers. When I see job postings for partners, they often require that a candidate have a certain amount of portable work in order. Law firm managers rightly do not want to share their revenue with someone who is not contributing to the origination of revenue at a shop, and, accordingly, business development is a huge part of lateral partnership recruiting. Not having business can make it difficult for more senior lawyers to make moves later in their careers. Some law firms might not want to hire an associate with decades of experience, especially when more senior lawyers might want salaries that are not on par with other associate candidates.
Business development is also important when it comes to firm politics. I have been at firms at which people were elected to the executive committee or were selected to be office or firm managing partners simply because they had more work. I have also been at law firms that had significant internal fights about the direction of the shop. The lawyer who usually won the internal political battles was usually the one who was able to generate the most business. That’s because the revenue generators of a law firm are more important than partners who only provide labor to a shop, and firm management may want to placate those lawyers who can generate business.
Lawyers definitely do not learn business development skills in law school, and many lawyers do not learn such skills on the job either. However, business development aptitude can have a bigger impact on an attorney’s career advancement than their legal skills. Lawyers should take any opportunity available to learn business development skills so that they can have portable business later in their careers when this is important to hiring and promotion determinations.
Jordan Rothman is a partner of The Rothman Law Firm, a full-service New York and New Jersey law firm. He is also the founder of Student Debt Diaries, a website discussing how he paid off his student loans. You can reach Jordan through email at jordan@rothman.law.
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