Joe Chancey (left) and Christy Walsh of Drew Eckl in Atlanta. (Photo: John Disney/ALM)

Drew Eckl & Farnham is going beyond the usual business development training to teach associates how to make partner.

Motivated to both guide associates and increase retention, the Atlanta-based midsize firm this year launched a one-year course for its senior associates that offers comprehensive training on the business side of law and nonlegal skills needed to be a good partner.

The core of the program, Path 2 Partnership, is a yearlong, 25-hour course for sixth-year associates. The course, which is mandatory for partnership consideration, started in January with a daylong boot camp featuring presentations on how Drew Eckl makes a profit, having difficult conversations and what it takes to be an effective leader.

The group has been convening once a month for workshops. Christy Walsh, Drew Eckl's director of marketing and business development, calls it a "mini-MBA program" for them.

Monthly topics have included: How to run a matter smoothly (including what to delegate), e-discovery and using big data—namely the firm's accumulated data on case outcomes, opposing counsel, experts and matter time.

"You can be a great lawyer and not understand the nuts and bolts of how law firms make money," said the firm's managing partner, Joe Chancey, noting that he majored in English in college.

Business development training was the initial impetus, Walsh said, but when she started working with various committees and practice leaders to design the program, a broader need emerged for coaching on other aspects of becoming a partner.

Business development is not neglected. Walsh holds individual, 30-minute check-ins every month with each associate on their business development plan. They brainstorm about potential clients and set a couple of actions for the associate, like reaching out to referral sources, to do before their next meeting.

Improving Retention

The goal is to help senior associates learn the range of skills they need to make partner, Chancey said, but the broader aim is to increase associate satisfaction and retention by fostering better communication among associates and partners.

Drew Eckl started in 1983 as a litigation defense firm and has expanded into corporate, real estate and other areas of law. It's grown to 118 lawyers with about 40 associates.

"For a firm of our size, to lose even two or three senior associates that we really wanted to keep is a big blow to us," Chancey said, since Drew Eckl has invested in them for five or six years. 

Chancey said that he and his partners were hearing a lot of frustration from associates about communication. The millennials wanted continual feedback, starting in their first year, on how they were doing and their progression toward partnership. 

That's a far cry from when Chancey was starting out in the 1980s. Back then, he said, associates "figured they'd make partner in seven or eight years if no one was yelling at them." 

"We underestimated the level of frustration, so we designed a structured program," he said.

Every new associate now receives a Partnership 101 package that lays out expectations. The partners also fielded associates' questions on what is required of equity partners and created a FAQ to answer them. Drew Eckl has started quarterly training for junior associates, and that culminates in the Path 2 Partnership course for sixth years. 

While all sixth years are eligible, the program isn't mandatory for all, Chancey said, noting that some senior associates are not interested in becoming equity partners.

The inaugural class is made up of 10 associates, who are sixth year and up, and 11 nonequity partners, Walsh said, because the firm wanted to include everyone who'd find it useful.

Results So Far

Early indicators show that the Path 2 Partnership course is producing results. 

Since January, Walsh said, associate turnover among the firm's roughly 40 associates has decreased by 7.7%. Even better, departures by senior associates have decreased by 57%. 

Walsh and Chancey are paying close attention to the participants' feedback.

The June training on how to close the deal with a client and, relatedly, pricing a matter has been one of the most popular, Walsh said.

Drew Eckl partners have a lot of autonomy in setting rates, Chancey said, so learning how to price a matter is important—including the use of alternative fee arrangements. 

"I'd like to get all the equity partners in for that one," he said.

Some equity partners, who are invited to all sessions, attended the June training on closing the deal and April's workshop on mental health, Walsh said.  "Stress is an issue for everyone—especially in our profession," Chancey said, adding that the firm has made mental health training mandatory for all of its lawyers.

Chancey added that the sessions are building relationships among the senior associates and partners. Partners have told him that they've been meaning to talk to associates about how they're doing, but then trials or depositions come up and the conversations don't happen. "This creates a structure where the conversations must occur," he said.