Hey everyone- was contemplating some of the things that happen in law firms and wanted to know if this is just my experience. How many of y'all have come across people who don't pull their weight around, have zero technical skills but are still on the rolls? Like people who don't even know the basics of their practice area and are still there. Have you looked at someone and wondered how did they land this job in the first place when they don't know their shit? Ironically, some of these people are also close to the top boss. While I am sure all this happens in other professions, ours seems uniquely positioned to enable such dums dums. They are all show and no substance. Many of these people progress to principal associate level, collect salaries for years, become partners and then quickly jump to more stable ish roles where they don't have to do engage in BD, because honestly they just don't have the skills to bring in business. Their run as a partner is limited to 2 years max after which they jump ship. I am really curious to hear people's take on whether law firms essentially reward two things in principle: 1) Connections and 2) Ability to Schmooze, politicking etc. I am quite early and junior in my career, but I can't help but notice that law firms don't necessarily reward people's ability to deliver results at least till the Principal Associate level. I personally believe that the quality and technical finesse of a lawyer only becomes apparent after elevation to PA onwards. That is when it becomes clear whether they are worth their salt. In most cases technically incompetent lawyers when elevated to partnership would not last more than 2 years. Correct me if I wrong but at least in the big firms (the big5), once you are in and not terribly bad at basic skills you won't be thrown out of the firm. Any thoughts? Or experiences where you come across such characters?