How Not To Make Partner

Ninety percent of hires at Biglaw firms don’t make partner. Richard Cohen, who did, has some advice for those who want to remain part of the vast majority. Number one on his list? Be a woman, or a member of a minority group. “Yes, it’s that easy!” he writes. “Despite numerous surveys over decades, sworn oaths by Biglaw managing partners to increase diversity, and mandatory weekly kumbaya sessions, the sad truth is that Biglaw is still a white man’s game.” But all is not lost if you’re a white male. You can work less than 2300 hours per year; be unavailable on a holiday, religious or otherwise; make your family a priority; call in sick – or try several other strategies that he suggests. It’s easy not to make partner, he concludes, it’s really just a matter of being yourself. But if you do make partner, you have the satisfaction and comfort of knowing that all of your loyalty and hard work will be matched by the firm’s loyalty to you. Until it isn’t.