Job Placement · Legal · Partner
BLS wage data exclude partners of unincorporated firms, so the published $159,670 lawyer median understates real partner pay; the 90th percentile of $351,600 is the more honest floor. A partner search turns on a portable book of business, a Rule 1.7 conflicts check, and Rule 1.17 terms if a practice is changing hands. BEG places partners on a Tier V milestone fee of $22,640 to $27,168.
See your placement estimate - no call required
See pricing before you talk to anyone. No demo gate, no obligation, and no co-employment.
TL;DR
A partner search is not a resume search, it is a conflicts and book-transfer process with a hiring decision attached to the end of it. BLS wage data exclude owners and partners of unincorporated businesses, so the widely cited $159,670 lawyer median has nothing to do with real partner compensation; the 90th percentile, $351,600 nationally and $372,590 inside legal services firms, is the more honest published floor. Before comp is even discussed, Rule 1.7(b)(4) requires informed, written client consent for any matter the lateral's book makes directly adverse, and Rule 1.10(a) imputes that conflict to the whole receiving firm. If a practice or practice area is changing hands rather than an individual moving, Rule 1.17 governs the sale itself, including a 90-day client-notice window before consent to transfer is presumed. BEG runs this Tier V search at $22,640 to $27,168, a fixed milestone fee agreed before the conflicts work even starts.
Why This Seat Specifically
Because the hard part is not finding a qualified lawyer, it is clearing the client conflicts on the book that lawyer would bring, which cannot start until the candidate is willing to disclose it.
What A Partner Search Actually Has To Clear
Conflicts and disclosure timing, mostly. The steps below run in a specific order because the later ones cannot start until the earlier ones produce a client list.
| Step | What it requires | Where it stalls |
|---|---|---|
| Confirm what is actually moving | A lateral brings a portable book; selling a practice area under Rule 1.17 requires the whole practice or area to change hands, not a partial book. | Negotiating comp before establishing whether this is a lateral hire, a practice sale, or both, which run under different rules. |
| Conflicts check on the incoming book | Per Rule 1.7(b)(4), each affected client needs informed, written consent before the firm can keep a matter the lateral's book makes directly adverse; Rule 1.10(a) imputes that conflict to the whole firm. | The candidate will not disclose clients until there is an offer, so the conflicts check cannot start until someone moves first. |
| Former-client exposure at the old firm | Under Rule 1.10(b), the old firm may take on matters adverse to the departed partner's former client unless the matter is substantially related and a remaining lawyer holds material protected information. | Assuming the old firm is permanently locked out of the former client relationship, when in most cases it is not. |
| Supervisory duty starts on day one | Per Rule 5.3(a), the duty to maintain firm-wide measures for nonlawyer conduct attaches to partners and lawyers with comparable managerial authority from the start. | Treating supervisory compliance as a later onboarding item instead of a responsibility that already applies at signing. |
The in-house version of this same fee tier is the general counsel search, and the seat below this one is senior counsel. Full scope on the legal placement service page.
Milestone Billing Against Contingency
At the $159,670 national lawyer median, a 20% contingency fee is $31,934 and a 25% fee $39,918; BEG's Tier V fee of $22,640 to $27,168 is 71% to 85% of that basis, modest savings and an honest one to state plainly. At the $351,600 90th percentile, the more realistic floor for actual partner pay, a 20% fee is $70,320 and a 25% fee $87,900; BEG's fee is 32% to 39% of that basis, more than half less, which is the comparison that matters for this seat.
What An Empty Partner Seat Costs Meanwhile
An unfilled partner seat is not an unfilled desk, it is client relationships that stay with a departed partner, a growth target that the remaining partners absorb, and worked-rate gains the practice group does not capture. With the average firm growing profits 13% and worked rates 7.3% in 2025, the group without a partner is the group not participating in that growth.
If You Were Searching For A Legal Staffing Agency
A partner seat is rarely a temporary coverage problem, so the comparison is really about how the fee is structured, not whether to staff it on contract.
| Model | Who employs the lawyer | How you pay | Right when |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contract attorney agency | The agency | Hourly rate for coverage on a specific matter or caseload | A staffing gap on active matters, not an equity or leadership seat. |
| Contingency legal recruiter | Your firm | Percentage of pay on placement, $70,320 to $87,900 at realistic partner pay | You want no cost until someone starts and accept a fee that scales with the comp you agree. |
| BEG permanent placement | Your firm | Tier V milestone fee, $22,640 to $27,168, fixed at the start | You are filling an equity or income partner seat and want the fee set before the conflicts work begins. |
A firm sometimes brings in contract coverage on a matter while a partner search runs in parallel, which is a reasonable combination. What does not work is treating a contract attorney as a substitute for the client relationships and firm equity a partner is actually hired for. Full scope on the legal placement hub.
FAQ
23 to 35 days from discovery call to signed offer, based on isolved placement data, with an 86% fill rate on active searches. In practice, the conflicts clearance on the incoming book is often the longer pole in the tent, not sourcing the candidate.
A partner is a Tier V search at $22,640 to $27,168, billed against milestones. At the $351,600 lawyer 90th percentile, the more honest floor for this seat, a 20% contingency fee would run $70,320, so BEG is 32% to 39% of that figure, more than half less on realistic partner pay.
No. A contract attorney agency employs the lawyer and bills your firm hourly for coverage on a matter. BEG places a permanent equity or income partner who your firm employs directly, with a portable book and a conflicts clearance behind the move, not a staffed body for a project.
BLS wage data for lawyers exclude owners and partners of unincorporated businesses, so the published $159,670 national median understates real partner pay. The 90th percentile, $351,600 nationally and $372,590 inside legal services firms specifically, is the more honest published floor for this seat.
Rule 1.17 lets a lawyer or firm sell a practice or an area of practice, including goodwill, only if the seller stops practicing in that area or jurisdiction, the whole practice or area is sold, every client gets written notice, and fees are not raised because of the sale. It applies when a practice, not just an individual, is changing hands.
No. Rule 1.7(b)(4) requires each affected client's informed consent, confirmed in writing, before the firm can keep a matter the lateral's book makes directly adverse, and Rule 1.10(a) imputes any one lawyer's conflict to the entire firm while they are associated there.
Under Rule 1.10(b), once the partner leaves, the old firm may take on matters adverse to that partner's former client, unless the matter is the same or substantially related and a remaining lawyer at the old firm holds material protected information about it.
Both sit in the same Tier V fee band, but a partner brings firm equity and a portable client book, while a general counsel runs an in-house legal department and its budget. See the general counsel search for the in-house version of this seat.
The average firm grew profits 13% in 2025 and worked rates rose 7.3%, with 90% of legal dollars still billed hourly, per the 2026 Thomson Reuters and Georgetown report. Growth in the business does not shorten a Rule 1.7 conflicts check, which is usually the actual bottleneck.
A 45-day replacement guarantee applies, plus 50% off a repeat search for the same seat. Because a partner search carries a conflicts and book-transfer process that a straightforward associate hire does not, getting the disclosure sequence right the first time matters more than at any tier below this one.
Yes. Rule 5.3(a) puts the duty to maintain firm-wide measures for nonlawyer conduct on partners and lawyers with comparable managerial authority, effective from the first day, not phased in during onboarding.
Compensation structure and firm voting rights differ, but the Rule 1.7 conflicts check, the Rule 1.10 imputation question, and Rule 1.17 mechanics if a practice is moving are the same gating steps either way. BEG scopes the search around which one is actually being hired before sourcing starts.
Hiring elsewhere on the ladder? See litigation associate, senior counsel and general counsel, or all legal placement.
More legal hiring
Ready?
Answer a few questions, get your placement estimate in about 90 seconds. No call required, no commitment.
See your placement estimate - no call required
