Podcast Ep. 26: Using SWOT In Your Partnership Bid As A Woman Lawyer

I have been working with a lot of women lawyers on their business cases recently, and it has been fascinating to see how differently firms approach partnership.

Some firms have very formal procedures, with detailed templates, training sessions and interviews in front of a partnership committee. Others ask for a spreadsheet with revenue projections, while others use a relatively informal PowerPoint presentation as the basis for a discussion.

And then there are the unwritten rules. In some firms, the process is relatively objective. In others, your chances may depend on who knows you, who likes you and where you fit into the firm's internal politics.

So how can you maximise your chances of making partner, whatever the format and whatever the unwritten rules?

One useful starting point is a SWOT analysis.

Start with your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats

SWOT stands for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.

Your strengths and weaknesses are internal. They are about you, your experience, your skills and your current situation. Opportunities and threats are external. They are about what is happening around you, within your firm and in your market.

Let's look at a hypothetical lawyer I will call Miriam.

Miriam has been working in the same firm for nine years. She has deep expertise in her practice area, manages complicated files confidently and is excellent at managing junior lawyers and complex teams. She is well liked by the people she works with.

But she has some weaknesses too. She has never brought in clients of her own because she has always been busy doing client work. She is not particularly well known outside her immediate circle, and her billable hours have suffered because she took maternity leave.

What about opportunities? The partner she works for is approaching retirement, and new regulations are likely to create additional demand for her expertise.

And the threats? There is fierce competition for a single partnership position, some overlap between her practice and those of other senior associates, and certain partners in other departments either do not know her or do not particularly like her.

Miriam is a great lawyer. But being a great lawyer is not necessarily enough to make partner. She needs to think strategically about how to position herself.

Connect the four boxes

The real value of a SWOT analysis comes when you start connecting the four areas and working out what you can actually do.

1. Use your strengths to maximise opportunities.

The new regulations affecting Miriam's practice area could create an excellent opportunity to raise her profile. She could organise webinars or breakfast meetings for clients and potential clients, explaining the implications of the changes.

This would showcase her expertise, help her build relationships, demonstrate her business development skills and potentially attract new work.

2. Use opportunities to address your weaknesses.

Miriam has no client base of her own, but the partner she works for is approaching retirement. Could she position herself to take over some of his clients?

If she can inherit some of those files, the amount of new business she needs to generate herself could be considerably lower. She needs to think about how to make that happen, whether through a direct conversation with the senior partner or by making her capabilities and interest known to the wider firm.

3. Use your strengths to manage external threats.

Miriam is well liked by her immediate team, which suggests she has strong interpersonal skills. She could use those skills to build relationships with partners in other departments who do not know her yet, or to improve relationships with those who may have reservations about her.

She cannot control what other people think of her, but she can take practical steps to influence those relationships.

4. Address weaknesses that could leave you vulnerable.

Miriam's reduced billable hours could become a disadvantage when she is competing against other senior associates. She needs to demonstrate that her hours are back to their usual level, if that is the case, and be prepared to address questions about her recent figures.

She also needs to think about the overlap between her practice and those of her competitors. Is there a way to distinguish her offering, perhaps by focusing on a particular part of her practice?

Sometimes that will be possible. Sometimes it will not.

And this brings me to an important point.

Do not twist yourself into a shape that does not fit

As you work through your SWOT analysis, it is tempting to focus on how you can make yourself fit what you think the firm wants.

You might try to reshape your practice, downplay parts of your experience or position yourself in a way that avoids upsetting other people.

Sometimes a change in positioning is sensible. But sometimes you simply cannot squeeze your round practice area through a square hole.

There is also something powerful about being clear about what you want and presenting your business case in a way that reflects the practice you genuinely want to build.

Miriam is a fabulous lawyer. If her firm understands what she brings to the table, it should recognise her value even if she has some weaknesses to address.

The aim is not to pretend that your weaknesses do not exist. It is to understand them, decide which ones you can address and make the most of your strengths.

Think about your plan B

Finally, as you work through your analysis, ask yourself: what is the worst that could happen?

What if you do not make partner in your current firm?

Perhaps there is another firm that would be a better fit. Perhaps you could establish yourself as a sole practitioner or work as a consultant. Or perhaps you are not quite ready for partnership yet, and there are things you need to develop before trying again.

Not making partner can feel devastating at the time. But sometimes it is only with hindsight that we can see how things have worked out for the best.

Thinking about your plan B does not mean giving up on your ambitions. It means recognising that your future does not depend on a single decision made by a single firm.

Your exercise

I would encourage you to try this for yourself.

Take a piece of paper and divide it into four boxes. Write down your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats as you work towards partnership.

Then comes the interesting part. Look at how you can connect those four areas.

How can you use your strengths to maximise opportunities? How can you address your weaknesses before they become obstacles? How can you use your strengths to manage external threats?

Finally, identify the three or four actions that would have the biggest impact on your chances of making partner.

For each action, work out the next practical step and put it in your diary.

The beauty of this exercise is that it helps you distinguish between what you can control and what you cannot. You can then focus your energy on the things you can actually do, rather than wasting time worrying about everything else.

You cannot control every aspect of the partnership process. But you can approach it strategically, understand your position and take practical steps to improve your chances.