Not all law firm partners are equal. That was not always so, and it certainly is today. Someone once summarized the hierarchy inside a modern law firm as “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, the lawyers responsible for the client relationships. They oversee the work on a given matter, and they often carry billing responsibility, so that clients are billed fairly and efficiently and the relationship stays both strong and profitable.
Below the minders are the grinders, the lawyers who do the bulk of the legal work. They research the issues, write the briefs, take at least some of the depositions and draft the deal documents. Every associate spends time as a grinder, and lawyers with no interest in partnership will sometimes take the role gladly.
At partner level, the lawyers who are mainly grinders are the service partners. There are real positives to that role in a good law firm. You do high-end legal work, often on interesting matters. You spend your time practicing law rather than developing business. The compensation is frequently attractive.
The biggest drawback is that you depend on other lawyers to supply the work. Your ability to generate revenue rests on their ability and their willingness to hand it to you. That is a vulnerable position, particularly in a downturn.