Not all law firm partners are created equal. Although this was not always the case, it certainly is today. To summarize the hierarchy within most modern law firms, someone coined the phrase “finders, minders, and grinders.”
Finders, as the name implies, are the ones who go out and find the business. They bring clients in the door. These are the rainmakers, and the market has placed them at the top of the pyramid.
Below the finders are the minders. These are the lawyers responsible for maintaining client relationships. The minders oversee the work that is being done on a given matter, and they often have billing responsibility to make sure the clients are billed fairly and efficiently, so that the client relationship remains strong and profitable.
Finally, below the minders are the grinders. These are the lawyers who do the bulk of the legal work. They are researching the issues, writing the briefs, taking at least some of the depositions, and drafting the deal documents. All associates will spend time as grinders, of course, and sometimes lawyers who are not interested in being a partner will gladly assume a grinder’s role.
At the partner level, the lawyers within law firms who are mainly grinders are, of course, the service partners. There are definite positives to working as a service partner/grinder within a good law firm. You get to do high-end legal work. You probably work on some very interesting matters. You spend your time practicing law as opposed to developing business. The compensation is often attractive.
The biggest drawback to working as a service partner/grinder within a good law firm is that you are dependent on other lawyers to provide work for you to do. Your ability to generate revenue depends on others’ ability and willingness to give you work. That is a highly vulnerable position, especially during a downturn.
