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Ropes & Gray is administered by a number of different committees and groups whose membership is drawn from the firm's lawyers. Some of these bodies have only partners as members; others include associates as well. While the membership and responsibilities of the various firm administrative bodies differ widely, they all have two things in common: they do their work collaboratively, and they reach their decisions by consensus. Below we describe the responsibilities of several of the most important administrative bodies at Ropes & Gray.
Policy Committee: The Ropes & Gray Policy Committee operates much like the board of directors of a corporation. It sets the firm's overall business strategy and makes the firm's most important decisions, including associate compensation, partners' distributions, admission of partners, and appointment of other committees. The Policy Committee's members are selected after each partner in the firm has been interviewed to determine a consensus among the partnership as a whole. Similarly, the Committee itself acts by a consensus of its members and, on important issues such as the promotion of associates to the partnership, only after meeting with each partner to ensure that the consensus extends across the firm. The current Chair of the Policy Committee is Brad Malt. A second member of the Policy Committee, John Montgomery, currently serves as the firm's Managing Partner.
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Brad Malt, left, Chair of the Policy Committee, and John Montgomery, right, Managing Partner of the firm. |
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Departments: Ropes & Gray's day-to-day business of serving its clients is administered by the six Departments. Each department is headed by one or more partners. The department heads have overall responsibility within their particular practice areas for staffing client matters, developing new business opportunities, and training associates. In carrying out these responsibilities, the department heads invariably work in close collaboration with the other lawyers in their group.
Associates Committee: The Associates Committee, chaired by David Mandel, is a group of partners who are responsible for evaluating associate performance during the first five years following graduation from law school. Each associate within the Associates Committee's jurisdiction is evaluated twice a year by the Committee and has one member of the Committee assigned to be the associate's liaison throughout the five-year period. (Evaluations of more senior associates are done by the Policy Committee.) In order to prepare its semi-annual evaluations, the Associates Committee arranges for every partner and senior associate in the firm to provide the Committee with written comments on the performance of associates with whom the evaluating lawyer has worked during the preceding six months. The results of these interviews are distributed to the Committee, which then meets to discuss and finalize the evaluation of each associate. The evaluation is then reviewed in detail in a meeting among the associate and his or her Committee liaison and department head. |
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David Mandel, Chair of the Associates Committee |
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Hiring Group: The Hiring
Group is comprised of nineteen partners responsible for leading the
firm's efforts to evaluate and recruit potential new associates.
The Chair of the Hiring Group also acts as the firm's Hiring Partne,
a position currently held by Susan
Galli. While the Hiring Group leads the firm's recruiting
efforts, many other lawyers in the firm — including most of
the firm's associates — contribute importantly to those efforts
by participating in on-campus
interviews and/or in-office
interviews. Most prospective Ropes & Gray summer and full-time
associates meet with at least seven Ropes & Gray lawyers as part
of the evaluative process. Biographies of all regular interviewers
are available by clicking on Interviewer
Bios. All interviewers who see a particular candidate, including
associate interviewers, have substantial input into the offer decision.
In making these decisions, the Hiring Group focuses on making offers
only to those candidates who have a strong consensus of support among
the people who interviewed them.
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| Associates Development Committee: The
Associates Development Committee (ADC) is chaired by partner Marc Hirschfield.
Aside from Marc, this committee is comprised exclusively of associates
and staff. The ADC monitors and makes recommendations regarding firm
policies and practices that affect associate life. The ADC also implements
programs to foster the firm's culture and values and to promote career
development within Ropes & Gray. Since its creation in 1997, the
ADC has made several significant recommendations that the firm has
adopted, including institution of a business casual dress code; maintaining
personal and business contacts with Ropes & Gray alumni through
the development of a directory and an annual reunion party; creation
of on-premises nursing mothers' rooms; and sponsorship of the GLBT
Forum. Most recently the ADC has organized and implemented integration
programs and social events to promote a "one firm" culture
throughout all of our offices. The ADC has also assisted in the implementation
of the firm's Best Practices Initiative by encouraging lawyers to incorporate
into their practices the guiding principles on how attorneys should
interact at the firm. |
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| Training Advisory Committee: The
Training Advisory Committee is a group of partners and associates responsible
for monitoring the firm's overall training effort and for recommending
changes or additions to existing training programs. Recent initiatives
of the Training Advisory Committee include creation of training sessions
for junior associates on time-management and negotiation skills,
and for senior associates on the development of management skills.
For more information regarding the firm's training program in general
or the Training Advisory Committee in particular, see Associate
Training or contact Rob Shapiro, the chair of the Training
Advisory Committee. |
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Rob Shapiro, Chair of the Training Advisory Committee |
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