Law Firm Hierarchy 101

A law firm is the place to go to when a person has a legal problem or issue that needs representation or, at the very least, good legal counsel. One advantage of doing so is the pool of expertise and skill that an office has a generalized legal issue can be handled by most of the junior partners in the group, whereas, issues of a specific nature can be handled by specialists in the group who excel in one particular aspect of the law. In most cases, a legal group is hired to handle most of the work and legal issues of specific establishments and companies. Individuals can also hire a group to see to the legal issues that he or she may encounter periodically. Being on retainer to a large establishment is a good way for the office to grow big and have a good reputation.

Structure of the Group
The structure of a law firm is based solely on its members. One practitioner can be labeled as a sole proprietorship. In this case, the sole attorney is the one who is responsible for everything that goes on around him. That includes the losses, liabilities and the profits of the office. In one group that has several members, there are partners and associates.

Partners are those members of the group that are business directors and joint owners of the legal office. This means that they are basically the ones who make the big decisions for the group. They are the ones with the big names and the big cases that have made marks on the legal circles. Associates are attorneys who are hired by the partners on merit of their background, based on education, training and skill. Of course, immediate families of the partners have a higher tendency of being hired as an associate for the same law firm on the basis of family background. When an up and coming lawyer shows great skill with regards to special cases, he or she may be headhunted by the partners to join their group. An associate is likely to become a partner in seven to nine years' time as long as he or she has made good on the skill that was shown initially. Those who do not make the cut to become a partner may be asked to leave the offices of the partners. Associates who become partner share a bigger cut of the income compared to associates who are given a salary.

Support services for the law firm are usually provided by a staff of paralegals and other professions. Clerks and investigators are usually among the many individuals who are hired by the partners to make sure that the group functions at its very best. Legal assistants and secretaries are among the many number of people who are hired by big groups to help support the network of legal practitioners. Contract lawyers or part time attorneys are often hired to do some legal work that may not be attended to by the partners or the associates due to an influx of legal issues and problems.