Newly-qualified lawyers starting their careers, having completed their second state exams are taken on as employees (associates) of the firm. For between four to five years they learn various technical aspects of legal practice. They are involved directly with the firm’s clients from the outset.

The next career step following a successful associate period is the counsel status or a junior partnership.

Counsel status is suitable for associates who wish to work as “ready-made” lawyers with a high degree of personal responsibility at the highest level of legal practice without having to bear the full entrepreneurial responsibility of a partner. Counsel status is not an automatic feature of our firm after the associate’s time, but is an attractive alternative to partner status and is held in high esteem. If an Associate meets the high requirements to become a Counsel at Hoffmann Liebs, the partnership decides whether the Associate is offered the opportunity to change to Counsel status.

As an alternative to Counsel status, highly motivated lawyers who wish to develop their entrepreneurial potential have the opportunity to become junior partners after a successful associate period. As with counsel, the partnership decides whether an associate meets the high requirements for a junior partnership and whether a change to junior partner status is offered.

Junior partnership at Hoffmann Liebs is a very different proposition to the „non-equity partnership“ in most other law firms, particularly the large ones. Even though still under the supervision of a senior partner, our junior partners have a stake in the business. They have a partnership share, albeit a lower share than the senior partners, and thus have a financial interest in the firm. They have a real opportunity to influence important issues affecting the firm as they already have some limited voting rights.  Our firm is therefore, in practice, different to many other firms.

Senior partnership follows on from junior partnership. Senior partners have a capital share in the firm and have full voting rights from the outset.

Distribution of profits amongst the senior and junior partners is determined by reference to a points system (lock step system). The distributable profits are always the entire annual profits of the firm.