Attorney v associate Forum

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Attorney v associate

Post by Anonymous User » Mon Nov 12, 2018 10:12 pm

I was recently offered an attorney position at a law firm. From my understanding, attorney means non-partner track. Has anyone had luck going from non-partner track to partner track? The salary is kind of low for the attorney position compared to associates as well. Am I expected to work the same number of hours for less pay?

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Re: Attorney v associate

Post by Anonymous User » Tue Nov 13, 2018 1:00 am

At my firm we have both and the "attorneys" certainly work much less, but also make a lower salary. If you pro-rate their salary, it's probably higher based on the number of hours they work. If you have nothing else then take it, but if you have an associate offer from even a much lower ranked/smaller firm, I'd take that. It's hard to go from attorney to associate, but not impossible, especially in this economy. Your school rank/grades will be relevant if you want a decent shot at making that transition.

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Re: Attorney v associate

Post by Anonymous User » Tue Nov 13, 2018 7:07 pm

Varies a tremendous amount between firms. At my firm, "attorneys" tend to be relatively senior people who are too valuable to some partner(s) to let go but are unwilling to bill enough to be an associate or of counsel. I became an "attorney" basically by threatening to quit; moving back to partnership track would just be a matter of asking. From my perspective, the new gig is infinitely better because I have no hours target (get paid hourly based on % of billing rate), no nonbillable obligations, no facetime req, etc.

That said, I don't think the above types of situations are ever really advertised - so if you're being hired from outside the firm, your fears may well be justified.

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