<p>One of the gentleman sitting on the board of my last school is an attorney. He's been at the same firm since, literally, 1961. He's been a partner since the 1970s. </p>
<p>Is he really still going into the office to do work everyday? Or, as I imagine it, is there an office/walk-in humidor upstairs where all the masters of the universe show up, dressed in their law garb, to eat steaks and play cards?</p>
<p>In all seriousness, someone who's been a partner since the 1970s has to be pretty comfortable in their position, right? What do long-time partners do? Whatever they'd like?</p>
<p>Rarely, if ever, does any partner at a law firm, no longer how long his or her tenure, sit around and play cards all day unless that is what is occasionally necessary to bring in clients. Today, even partners have to carry their own weight. Many, if not most, BIGLAW partners work long hours, which are taken up by actual billable work, administrative matters like billing and bringing in new business, working on bar and other civic activities (including, at times, pro bono work) and training and hiring associates. In many instances, the only difference in the quality of the hours worked by partners and associates is that at least for the partners, their time management is within their own discretion, and they can work when they want so long as everything still gets done.</p>
<p>Today, partners who don’t carry their own weight are often fired or demoted to “non-equity” status (meaning that they are salaried instead of sharing in the profits of the firm). </p>
<p>Now, some older and more tenured partners do have some kind of senior counsel or senior partner status, at which point their job responsibilities often diminish. Some of these partners work “part time,” which often means that they still work 5 days a week, but for perhaps only 40 or so hours per week. Often, these partners work on discrete matters that call for a certain kind of expertise and/or work on client relationships and on bar and other public matters. It is certainly possible that someone who has been working since the early 60’s might have achieved this status.</p>