Lawyer Development

An Unwavering Commitment to Lawyer Development

Orrick is committed to developing each associate who joins the firm with the knowledge, skills and characteristics essential to deliver outstanding advice and exceptional service to our clients. This commitment includes providing extensive training and resources, backed by clear development goals, to associates as they develop and manage their careers.

Orrick's lawyer development efforts mirror the culture and core values of the firm. Our goal is to allow each individual's strengths to shine, and to ensure they have the support needed to thrive. A core part of our lawyer development efforts is one-on-one coaching and mentoring. Partners and senior associates serve as coaches and mentors, providing valuable feedback and support to associates. In turn, new associates are expected to take an active role in the development of their own careers by seeking out advice, training and work experiences that will enhance their ability to be great lawyers.

An Innovative Talent Model

Orrick has replaced the traditional, one-size-fits-all lockstep structure of law firms with an innovative system that allows for many definitions of success in the practice of law. At Orrick, we provide options that will enable an individualized career progression based on the associate's development pace, personal needs and professional aspirations.

• Partner Track. Orrick associates advance at a rate that reflects their individual skill development, progressing through three unique, well-defined roles: Associate, Managing Associate and Senior Associate. Associate advancement and compensation are based on the acquisition of new skills and the overall quality of the associate's contribution. Progression toward partnership is supported by clearly defined Criteria for Advancement, coaching and feedback, strategic and integrated training opportunities, and interim promotion points that recognize and reward professional development.
• Custom Track. We believe talent and commitment should not be viewed exclusively as an ambition for partnership. Perhaps a Managing or Senior Associate decides that, while he or she is committed to the practice of law and is excelling as a lawyer with Orrick, he or she does not necessarily want to pursue partnership. Or maybe an associate needs a temporary "off ramp" from partner track advancement. Either way, we welcome and value the long-term contributions of both on- and off- track associates.
• Career Track. As part of our continuing focus on reengineering our approach to legal work, we have created Career Associate and Legal Team Professional roles in the Global Operations Center in Wheeling, West Virginia, and throughout our practice offices. In every area of practice, the firm has sought to identify tasks and processes that can be disaggregated from the delivery of high-value legal advice and executed in an integrated, seamless, and efficient manner by specialists. Career Associates and Legal Team Specialists are valuable members of our client teams and enable us to staff client matters with more flexibility. These roles include project managers, document reviewers, compliance specialists, due diligence specialists, document assemblers, and legal researchers.

Practical, Comprehensive Training

We support our merit-based advancement system by providing associates with intensive training, guidance and feedback. From "Orrick 101" to our specialized practice-specific classes, attorneys are supported in developing the skills they need for success.

• Client Relationship and Management Skills. All associates participate in a unique and comprehensive training curriculum that helps them develop the skills essential to provide differentiated service in the legal market of today and tomorrow. The curriculum includes oral and written communication, project management, supervision and delegation, understanding law firm financials, leadership and client service and relationship-building skills.
• Practice-Specific Opportunities. Each practice group offers comprehensive training programs to help its attorneys develop the in-depth technical skills and knowledge needed to respond to both client needs and market demands. These programs traditionally are led by partners and more experienced associates and take place several times per month, particularly during the first year of practice. We also offer more advanced training for Managing Associates and Senior Associates.
• Online and Public Training Resources. In addition to in-house training and development programs, we provide access to online programs and tools, as well as industry-leading public continuing education programs.

Clear Expectations, Consistent Feedback

Clear communication of expectations—from performance today to areas of future professional growth—is a fundamental part of every lawyer's career development at Orrick.

In addition to our firmwide Criteria for Advancement, we review practice group-specific performance benchmarks outlining the knowledge, skills and work experiences attorneys focus on at the Associate, Managing Associate and Senior Associate levels.

But outlining expectations is only the start. We strongly believe that meaningful, timely feedback is a critical component for every lawyer's professional development. At Orrick, we are building feedback tools right into our daily time entry system—allowing associates to say who supervises their work—and using that information to solicit timely feedback on assignments. In addition to the day-to-day feedback partners provide, associates receive a detailed annual evaluation assessing their development to date and outlining development goals for the future.

Coaching and Mentoring

A core part of our lawyer development efforts is one-on-one career coaching and mentoring. Partners and more senior associates guide associates in their professional development through formal and informal mentoring relationships. Under our new Talent Model, each associate works with a partner Talent Model Mentor. The Talent Model Mentor provides insight on the associate's development goals as part of the annual performance feedback process, and meets regularly with the associates to create and execute a plan to address identified growth opportunities.

In addition to mentoring from partners, Orrick also provides associates with access to two dedicated Career Coaches who provide associates with confidential career development and advancement advice and counsel. Our career guidance coaches provide a distinguishing element of Orrick's approach to associate development.

In turn, associates take an active role in the development of their own career by seeking out advice, training and work experiences to meet individual advancement goals and enhance their ability to be a great lawyer.