By Carlos Cortés, Partner at Ellis & Partners. This article was originally published in "Expansión".


The career path in almost all law firms, national or international, involves at some point becoming an equity partner, i.e. a shareholder and owner of part of the firm. Throughout the years of hard work that any lawyer typically performs, subject to long hours and client pressure, the likely prospect of becoming a partner is clearly a highly valued form of future compensation. There are other professional careers that are just as demanding and where the possibility of no longer being a salaried employee is not even contemplated. At most, one may gain access to some form of equity-based remuneration, but this will probably not confer ownership in the sense of having full decision-making power over the governance of the company.

This has several positive consequences. It increases the lawyer's level of commitment to the firm, commitment being something one decides every morning and which is not easily imposed from outside. And it is also more equitable than other systems and contributes to better management of the firm.

Those starting out in the legal profession should also inform themselves thoroughly about the field in which they intend to work. It is not advisable to specialise in whatever happens to be available in the firm at a given moment, because some practice areas have very little to do with others. Not only is the work of a litigation lawyer different from that of a tax lawyer, a labour lawyer or a corporate lawyer, but specialisation is becoming increasingly defined.

For example, in banking and finance, the work of someone dealing with financial regulation bears no resemblance at all to that of a lawyer supervising structured financial contracts. Moreover, this level of specialisation continues to increase.

Both the name and prestige associated with a law firm are significant, often even more significant than the individual professional’s own name and reputation. This means that established lawyers don't usually consider moving to other firms, as most of their client portfolio will remain with the firm where they previously worked. Conversely, this has the advantage that a partner who is a strong technical executor, even without a commercial profile, may be referred to cases with international clients without having to work arduously to attract new ones.

This is a generalisation also nuanced by practice area. For instance, M&A lawyers, who generally interacts with other areas of the firm such as tax, find it harder than, say, real estate lawyers, to take clients with them - especially in an international firm where clients are referred from other countries.

On the other hand, an obvious characteristic of the legal profession is that it solves important problems for individuals and companies. Lawyers are generators of peace of mind in their environment.

In some cases, they ensure that their clients will have no problems with the tax authorities. In others, they ensure that the company complies with labour or data protection legislation. They assist negotiations so that acquisitions or sales are carried out not only in accordance with the law, but also under the best possible conditions for the parties. They generate security in their surroundings. The relationship between lawyers and their clients is possibly the closest professional relationship that exists.

If the law helps to resolve conflicts of interest and ensures that relationships between people are settled fairly, good lawyers are contributing to social progress by generating trust in their clients.