THE LEVEL SYSTEM:

In January 2001, Blackwell Sanders replaced lockstep advancement and compensation for associates with a Level System of defined competencies.

A committee of associates and partners worked for months in 2000 designing this new approach, which we believe is a significant improvement over the traditional lockstep system for associate advancement in law firms today. Law firms from across the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom are seeking information on how our Level System works, and we are convinced that more and more firms will adopt approaches similar to our Level System in the coming years.

WHAT WAS WRONG WITH LOCKSTEP?

Most law firms across the country still use the lockstep system, in which associates join law firms in classes and progress by class and by calendar year toward partnership eligibility. In a lockstep system, two associates who joined a firm in the same year are "locked in" to the same pace of advancement, and often the same compensation, regardless of their skills and performance. At those firms, advancement toward partnership does not account for an individual's effort, skills, value, or performance. In other words, lockstep is inflexible. It fails to reward those who progress in skills and performance at a faster pace, and it does not accommodate those who "bloom" a little later.

Also, lockstep offers only one guarantee to associates -- that they will not be eligible for partnership until a certain number of years pass, regardless of their skills, performance, or value.

HOW DOES THE LEVEL SYSTEM WORK?

On January 1, 2001, all of Blackwell Sanders' associates converted to the Level System, which has four associate levels: A1, A2, A3 and A4. A4 associates are eligible for partnership. We have determined what expectations we have of associates in each of the four levels, and these competencies are defined and provided to every associate. Each competency (for example, "Oral Communication," "Creativity and Flexibility," or "Teamwork and Cooperation") is defined differently by associate level, so that associates can clearly understand the rising expectations as they progress in their careers.

Associates also have their practice group or department's skills guidelines, which detail the specific skills and abilities associates in the group or department should acquire in each of the four levels. As a result, each associate has a roadmap of what is expected of him or her each step of the way toward partnership.

IN THE LEVEL SYSTEM, HOW DO I KNOW WHERE I STAND?

Associates' performance is formally evaluated twice a year by all lawyers for whom they work, not just partners. The evaluation forms vary between levels, because the expectations differ depending upon the associate's level. Associates take the lead themselves in keeping track of how they are progressing against their department or practice group's skills guidelines.

Both the Spring Review and Fall Review meetings involve the individual associate and his or her department/practice group leader. The Spring Review focuses on career development, and the associate takes the lead in preparing a one-page career development plan, which is then discussed and agreed upon with the department/practice group leader. That plan is a roadmap for what the associate and the firm will do over the next 12 months to develop the associate's career. In the Fall Review, which focuses on performance, associates do a self-evaluation that helps them be objective in assessing both their strengths and areas needing improvement.

HOW AM I COMPENSATED, AND HOW AM I PROMOTED TOWARD PARTNERSHIP?

Compensation for associates is in bands tied to the four levels. While associates who remain in a given level for more than a year can receive a salary increase, the significant compensation increases occur when an associate is promoted from one level to the next. Level promotions, with accompanying salary jumps, can occur in either the fall or the spring.

The firm's partnership track under its old system was six-and-one-third years. Under the Level System, the average length of time in progressing to partnership has remained essentially the same, but now associates who acquire skills and experience sooner, and who perform at a high level, are eligible for partnership sooner. More fundamentally, partnership eligibility at our firm is no longer measured by years. Associates progress to partnership based on their skills and performance, not by how many consecutive years they have worked here.

The firm pays bonuses at year-end as a reward for high productivity or other extraordinary performance. But under the Level System, growth in skills is also rewarded, with compensation raises and level promotions toward partnership.

WILL I GET THE GUIDANCE AND SUPPORT I NEED TO DEVELOP MY SKILLS?

The Level System requires a great deal of our partners and our department chairs and practice group leaders. Switching from lockstep to our Level System was a bit like turning off the autopilot on associate management. As a result, partners play an active role in associate career development.

Our partners are committed to this approach and to its success. Approximately 1,000 evaluation forms are filled out in each of our semiannual evaluation periods, and department chairs and practice group leaders meet on an individual basis with associates throughout the year to talk specifically about the associates' performance, the associates' experience and skills development, and the associates' careers.

The firm continues in its commitment to provide career development programming and resources. We work hard to provide training and resources that dovetail directly, in timing and content, to the skills associates need to progress and succeed in their careers.

To help make sure our partners are providing the right kind of support and guidance to associates, associates across the firm evaluate our partners each year on supervision, training, and other aspects of partner performance that are crucial to associate career development. This evaluation occurs after the Fall Associate Reviews, when compensation and promotion decisions are made regarding associates, and directly before decisions are made on partner compensation for the coming year.

HOW DOES A LEVEL SYSTEM BENEFIT ME, AS AN ASSOCIATE?

Associates are well served in several ways by a Level System. They have a clear roadmap of the competencies they need to develop as they move, level by level, toward partnership. Through semiannual reviews tied directly to the Level System's competencies, associates know where they stand as they develop professionally, are recognized and rewarded for growth in competencies, and can focus clearly on areas needing improvement. Since training resources are aligned with the expected competencies, associates receive the timely guidance they need to be promoted from level to level and advance in their careers.

Associates' individual compensation directly reflects their own performance and growth in key competency areas. Associates are afforded some flexibility in the pace of their career progression toward partnership. Last, associates are more assured of being successful entrants into partnership, because each promotion through the firm's levels requires the associate to have performed and built the competencies that will later make the associate successful as a partner.