Several years ago, we adopted general guidelines relating to long-term employment arrangements that could be offered to those associates who do not become partners but whom we nonetheless wish to encourage to remain with the firm.
Counsel: We offer the position of Counsel on a selective basis to a small number of highly-regarded lawyers.
Over time, the Counsel position has evolved to include lawyers in a variety of practice areas throughout the firm. One Counsel in New York devotes substantially all his time to organizing and conducting professional development corporate training programs for associates.
The partnership as a whole selects lawyers to become counsel. Counsel are compensated on a combined salary and bonus basis. Six lawyers elected Counsel have subsequently become partners of the firm. We currently have 49 counsel, with 28 based outside the United States.
Senior Attorney: We recently established the position of Senior Attorney as an alternative career position.
Senior attorneys in most instances continue in their prior practice areas and have senior responsibilities commensurate with their standing, under the supervision of partners and counsel within their practice group. Senior attorneys also play important roles in recruiting, mentoring, training, business development, practice group development and other managerial and firm-supporting roles, and with greater leadership responsibilities than when they were associates.
Time commitments and compensation for senior attorneys are determined on an individualized basis by a firm-wide committee of partners. The senior attorney position provides the opportunity to enjoy flexible schedules, apart from the alternate work schedules otherwise available to associates under the firm’s program for associates who have primary childcare responsibilities.
We currently have about 18 senior attorneys working in the firm’s New York, Washington, Paris, London, Frankfurt, Rome and Milan offices.