NALP Bulletin, February 2002 

Almost half of the offices represented in the 2001 NALP Directory of Legal Employers reported two or more partnership tiers, compared with just over one-third in 1995. Such a structure is most evident in firms of 251-500 attorneys, where well over half the offices (56.9%) reported two or more partnership tiers. In contrast, just over one-third of offices in smaller firms reported such a structure. It is also evident that the growth is being driven by larger firms, where the incidence of a tiered partnership scheme has roughly doubled.

Information provided by law offices for 2001 reveals that seven- or eight-year partnership tracks remain the most common, accounting for about 44% and 36%, respectively, of the total. Most of the remaining offices reported a lower figure. These figures are based on about 850 offices reporting a single figure, e.g., seven years or seven years plus a fraction, and in some cases may represent a minimum or the figure for non-equity partnership. Approximately 375 additional offices reported a range of years, e.g, eight to ten. These offices were excluded from the analysis.

Use of Partnership Tiers in Law Firms (percent of offices reporting two or more partnership tiers)

Source: NALP's Directory of Legal Employers, 1995 and 2001.