Does the title “senior associate” mean anything?
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Change my mind. Most First-Year Associate mistakes are 100% the fault of the partner who gave the vague assignment. Stop berating juniors for failing to capture the strategy when your entire instruction was a 30-second voice note saying look into the liability issue on this case. If you don't provide context, templates, or a clear scope of work, you’re just setting up an over-stressed kid to fail so you can feel superior when you rewrite it.
I want to know how much partners make at my mid-size, defense side insurance coverage-focused firm. I am pretty close with some of the partners. Would it be rude for me to ask directly? Are there other more tactful approaches people have used? I just want to know what to expect / determine whether it’s worth aiming for as opposed to going to plaintiff side which tends to be pay better.
Yea it means you have all the responsibilities and pressure of the first level partners without the title and slightly less money. And then the added benefit of thinking everyone thinks you have something wrong with you for not being partner yet. Hah
At our V25 firm it’s a formal up or out advancement gate at year 5. Most people make it but a fair number don’t.
Not at our firm. More of an informal way to designate an associate's experience level.
We can bill higher rates with some clients.
At my former firm (a well respected regional firm), it is a formal title awarded (or not) 5 years in. With that title, the associate gets certain additional benefits (dependent care coverage, some other minor benefits) and rights and responsibilities (the ability to open and bill files, an annual overview of general firm financial information).
I could not open new files during my first 5 years as an associate I could bring in clients and get credit for those clients, but a senior associate or partner would need to open the file and take on billing responsibility. Once you are a senior associate, you can bring in clients AND open files and bill them independently.
Senior associate, or managing associate, is a standard title in London. Matters will routinely be staffed with a partner and a senior/managing associate, with junior associates then used for grunt work. Over here, therefore, senior associate, or managing associate, is part of the normal progression with seniority.
At my firm, it means you “should” make non-equity partner the next year. So, no it doesn’t mean anything
It means something at my firm. Bonus potential increases greatly and is based on collections rather than hours worked.