zlacker

>>kisna7+(OP)
I work in a law firm that will fire great attorneys. It's part of the big law business model. Up or out and very few get up'd into partnership. So eventually you get fired (after 8-12 years depending on firm.)

So I know eventually my ass will get fired. It's just a matter of when.

I don't really understand it. But it's how the industry works.

Edit: 8-12 is for unambiguously great attorneys. A lot of decent attorneys get shown the door after 4-6 years. People who can't hack it (usually because they won't put up with be worked like a slave) will only make it 2-4 years. A lot of people quit.

>>rhino3+p5
At 8-12 years do you get paid more than a new hire? Seems a "good" way to keep costs down, having the bulk of work done by the new guys - and a few partners to oversee everything.

The downside is the average experience of your employee is going to be a lot lower, but that must not be the top goal of the law firms that employee this.

>>brianw+26
Most lawyer work is bog standard paperwork, and clients pay by the hour. Extra years of experience is not useful. You need a few experienced people, but mostly for their sales and strategy skills.

>>plonh+ag
Some types of legal work are bog standard paperwork, but the kind of stuff the big firms tends not to be. It takes about 5-6 years for a transactional person to be able to run a small deal by themselves. In litigation it's even steeper. At big firms, most associates (even 8 years in) probably couldn't run a complex case. And the older partners just have better judgement and wisdom that only comes with doing something many times.

But with stuff like writing wills, drafting simple contracts, entity formation, patent applications, etc. tend to have a shorter learning curve.