Philip Karter shareholder with Chamberlain, Hrdlicka, White, Williams & Aughtry.

Advice for the New Partner

In the modern world of law firm practice, the proliferation of lawyers working remotely, whether for traditional firms or for the much smaller percentage of virtual or cloud-based firms, may make it seem as if the traditional model of reporting to the office for work every day is a relic of the past. Much has been written over the course of the pandemic about how this new paradigm is here to stay and how the ability to work remotely has become an important component of a firm's recruiting toolkit.

However, for those of us who have spent a significant portion of our careers practicing out of smaller satellite offices of large and midsize firms, the concept of not being within close geographic proximity to the vast majority of one's colleagues is not all that unfamiliar. As satellites are concerned, Sputnik may have captured the world's attention when it was first launched, but in today's legal world, the key consideration facing satellite offices is how they can maintain the attention of the mothership (or perhaps multiple motherships), and how the satellite's lawyers, particularly its junior ones, can navigate a successful career trajectory in what is oftentimes a lower profile environment.

There are many reasons why law firms launch or acquire satellite offices; a fertile market to expand the firm's core competencies (e.g., energy law in Texas, government contracts law in Washington, D.C., agriculture law in the Midwest, etc.) or replicate the success of a specialized practice in a geographic area that is underserved; the attraction of adding valued lawyers and practices located in another city who don't want to relocate, or conversely, retaining valued lawyers who wish to relocate but remain with the firm; or the appeal of being within near proximity to important clients or industry centers, to cite a few examples.