Learning to be a lawyer in transnational law firms: communities of ...

(11, Training partner, English firm)
Indeed, a number of the firms studied used simulations as part of the assessment process when
individuals seek promotion to the position of senior associate or partner. This allows the ability
of the individual to be a legitimate participant to be tested and their attitudes and values relating
to ‘who they are as a lawyer and how they should act’ to be examined. As one interviewee
described:
“We have a development centre which is a global looking at all the lawyers at that level
[senior associate looking to become partner] across the world. We put them on a day and
a half, two-day, development centre, we put them through some simulations and they get
an objective assessment of their current level of business skills against a future
benchmark…So we can say in two years time, if you want to be this, you’ve got to do
these things to improve your skills…and then hopefully, about a year or so later, you are
chosen as a partner candidate and then you go into the partnership selection process”.
(1, Global head of human resources, English firm)
Such power relations encourage lawyers to attend training that is part of global Diploma
programmes and take on board the messages conveyed about the best practices and in particular
identities the firm expects all lawyers to master. Indeed, Table 6 provides examples of what
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