Starting your law firm career and advancing to partnership
If you are a woman lawyer and want to advance your career to partnership, this guide is for you. It has been updated from the original Law Society’s Justicia Project. It is specifically designed to guide associates from the early years of practice to becoming a partner (no matter the size of your firm). However, partnership is only one route toward a successful and rewarding practice and is not necessarily the right choice for everyone. If you are unsure whether partnership is the right choice for you, this guide may still prove useful in terms of excelling at your job while figuring out what you want to do next.
Topics covered in this guide include:
Challenges you may experience in advancing to partnership: The challenges women face in advancing to partnership positions in Ontario law firms are multi-faceted. This guide covers challenges such as gender bias, lack of role models and limited opportunities in the workplace and offers helpful suggestions on how to navigate them using strategies such as relationship building and creating career plans.
Starting your new job as an associate: The significance of establishing a solid foundation for your legal career cannot be overstated. This guide highlights the importance of creating a 30-60-90-day plan in the early days of your role as an associate (and shows you how) to ensure success. It also outlines the importance of finding a trusted mentor to provide guidance and coaching and a sponsor – someone who will champion you and your work, which can ultimately accelerate your track to partnership within the firm.
Performance reviews: Learn about the importance of performance reviews, which can highlight areas of improvement that will assist you in your professional development and path towards partnership. The guide outlines the benefits of these reviews and offers helpful tips, questions to ask and steps you can take to ease anxiety and get into the right mindset for your meetings.
Understanding your organization as you prepare for partnership: As with the other guides in this series, you will learn why building strong internal and external relationships is crucial in your path towards partnership. The guide also outlines the importance of understanding your firm’s mandate and mission and ensuring your goals are aligned. It also provides a handy checklist for partnership admission (see below).
Becoming an active manager of your career: Lastly, the guide outlines simple ways to create a roadmap for your professional success and advancement to partnership. It provides useful checklists (see below) and highlights a multi-faceted approach, keeping in mind all the topics covered above. It shows you how to perform a personal and practice audit so that you can fully understand your development and goals, which will ultimately catapult you towards a successful partnership at your firm.
Download the guide by clicking on the tile below.