Washington Lawyer - July/August 2024 - 22

FEATURE
PARTNERSHIP: MASTERING THE BUSINESS
S
By Jeremy Conrad
imply put, lawyers become lawyers because
they want to practice a craft. But to move up
the ladder at a firm, that means seeking partnership,
which means shifting to a managerial and
owner-focused mentality.
The challenge? Lawyers are not trained - in law school or in practice -
on the business of law or leadership. As legal organization consultant
Jordan Furlong puts it, instead of training associates to build and manage
business relationships, " law firms immerse them in billable work and
wait for osmosis to kick in. "
As modern law firms grow and adapt to global economic fluctuations
and rapid technological advancements, certain traditional ways will no
longer cut it. Today law firms and educational institutions are increasingly
recognizing that associates on the partnership track, those who recently
made partner, and even senior partners can benefit from educational
opportunities that target the specialized skill set needed to
succeed as an owner and manager in an evolving legal marketplace.
DEVELOPING RISING LEADERS
At Holland & Knight LLP, a program developed to strengthen the partnership
pipeline for female associates was so successful that the firm
doubled the size and created a second program that is gender neutral.
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Partner Janis Boyarsky Schiff says her initial inspiration for cofounding the
Rising Stars program in 2003 arose from her involvement with the firm's
compensation committee. She noticed that the committee knew very
little about the firm's female associates, and that women tended to depart
the firm at around the six-to-eight-year mark, the period in which
associates commonly become eligible for partnership. She brought her
observations to Deborah E. Barnard, then chair of Holland & Knight's
Women's Initiative, and the two developed Rising Stars for rising eighthyear
associates and nonequity partners.
" The idea was for the program to be a leadership, management, and
client development training program for women, " Schiff says.
Two decades later, Rising Stars continues to function as a training ground
for women entering partnership, but it also has shown its value as a tool
for recruitment and retention, as well as a highly effective team-building
exercise to help strengthen firm culture through the business's rapid expansion.
" This
year we had 37 applicants throughout the firm, and we picked
10 women to participate, " Schiff says. " For many years we limited a class
to five participants, then we increased [it] to seven. " Three years ago,
after the firm merged with Thompson & Knight LLP in Texas and Waller
Lansden Dortch & Davis in Nashville, the class size grew to 10 participants.
ABOVE:
Holland & Knight partners Deborah Barnard and Janis Boyarsky Schiff
(sixth and seventh from left, respectively) with the latest cohort of the firm's
Rising Stars training program for eighth-year associates and nonequity
partners.
Jati Lindsay
Washington Lawyer - July/August 2024

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