Your Focus: Develop your practice and determine how you can best contribute to the Firm’s strategic growth and success

At the start of your fourth year, you enroll in the Career Development Plan Program (CDPP), designed to support you as you move into a new stage in your career and professional development.  Through a series of lectures and small group sessions, you learn the skills needed to develop and advance toward partnership, including the basics of business development, law firm management and how to manage, delegate, and supervise others on a team.  You create your own Career Development Plan that is discussed annually during your formal review meeting.  In addition, you are paired with an advisor with whom you meet twice a year to discuss and update your individual plan.

To complete your Career Development Plan, you need to identify how you will further develop your skills and the ways in which you plan to contribute to your practice group, be a good Firm citizen and begin to build your network inside and outside the Firm.  As a mid-level associate we also encourage you to pursue such activities as publishing articles, giving speeches and taking a leadership role in an external organization.

As you develop into a senior associate, we discuss openly with you the partnership process.  When an associate has amassed all of the skills necessary to be considered for partner, the practice group or Department works with you to prepare you for consideration for this important elevation.  As part of the partnership promotion process, associates must submit their Career Development Plans.  After review by the Policy and Management Committees, the Firm’s partners vote to determine which associates will join their ranks.