Happy Black History Month! Office Hours this Saturday (tomorrow) between 8am-noon PST. 30 years practice in June. Ask me anything about navigating our profession, road to partnership, alternatives, WLB & the macro & microagressions we deal with. I don’t have all the answers but have thoughts. Post questions here (not DM).

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My path to partnership was circuitous. I made mistakes out of the gate which included starting out in local government and changing jobs a lot my first years. The thing that has always helped me was attending top ranked national universities (T20). It’s what has gotten me in the door & folks knocking on the door.

Watching my colleagues, Black & not, I’ve learned that for Us, w/o having attended highly ranked schools, We have less mobility to get to higher ranked firms: so when you move you must be strategic. We are held to “objective” standards, the ones white folks claim they follow, but do not. So, if you haven’t attended a top ranked school, you need to focus on getting to an AmLaw 100 or 200 firm, do excellent work that gets you file stamped writing samples under your name until you can use the prestige of that firm to move upward.

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Thank you for taking the time to do this. I do have a few questions.

1. What practice area are you in and when did you become a partner?

2. Can you briefly describe your path to partnership and circumstances that you believe were critical to you ultimately becoming a partner?

3. As a black partner, what have been your greatest challenges in developing a book of business?

4. What advice do you have for a senior associate who doesn’t see a path to partnership at their current firm but wants to make partner? (pivot in-house, lateral and take a class year cut, look for a counsel position, etc.?)

5. What do you think firm affinity groups can do to better support their members as they navigate firm life?

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