PTDo the contacts belong to the partner or to the firm?
A large law firm runs on trust: clients who come back, referrals, doors that open. That network is its social capital. The thesis heard the leaders of 18 of Brazil's largest law firms and 359 lawyers to understand how they try to turn a network that belongs to one person into an asset of the firm. Explained in 12 screens.
The clients (light cubes) either cling to one partner's tower or spread across the firm's base: the shift the thesis describes. Drag to rotate.
When a partner leaves, do the clients go too?
In law firms, clients usually trust a person. If the network belongs to that person alone, a partner's exit can take away clients, team and reputation. The thesis calls this the risk of discontinuity and shows how large firms try to protect themselves.
"We created mechanisms so that a partner's departure does not mean losing clients."E8 · MANAGING PARTNER
Our illustration, to show the idea: the numbers of partners and clients are made up. The quote is from one of the managing partners interviewed (section 3.3.6 of Study 2).
Social capital: who you know, how much they trust you, and whether you speak the same language
"Who you know affects what you know," reads the line by Nahapiet and Ghoshal that opens the thesis. These authors split social capital into three layers, the basis of the whole study. Tap a layer.
Dimensions by Nahapiet and Ghoshal (1998), in the introduction and in Study 1. The law-firm examples come from the Study 2 interviews. The layers are a diagram: their size measures nothing.
Almost no one had studied law firms' contacts
The author searched the Web of Science database for everything on social capital. There were thousands of articles, but almost none on law firms. Even after swapping the search terms for synonyms, few remained. In the end, 18 articles formed the basis.
Section 2.5 of Study 1. In an extra search, crossing synonyms of social capital with "law firm", 214 new articles appeared; only 7 actually dealt with the topic.
Eighteen leaders explained how they look after the firm's contacts
Between October 2024 and March 2025, the author interviewed managing partners and CEOs of large full-service firms (covering almost every area of law), chosen from industry rankings. The conversations were recorded, transcribed and grouped into seven themes. Pick one.
Table 4 (length in minutes). The total is 1,075 minutes, almost 18 hours (our calculation). Quotes carry only the interviewee code (E1 to E18), as in the thesis, which does not say which firm each code refers to. Transcription with Whisper and analysis with IRaMuTeQ. Quotes translated by us.
Four ways to manage contacts, from the most institutional to the most personal
Comparing governance, culture, promotion and client relationships, the author grouped the 18 firms into four models, a typology new to the legal sector. Pick a model and then a firm.
Tables 5, 8 and 9 and section 3.6. Each cube is a firm. The order "from institutional to personal" is that of Table 5; reading it as an axis is our interpretation. No model is presented as the best.
From "the partner's network" to a collective resource of the firm
Combining the literature and the interviews, the thesis proposes a definition of social capital built for law firms. It has four parts. Compare it with the common view and tap a phrase.
Section 3.5 of Study 2, translated by us. The "common view" sums up what the thesis describes as the individualistic view, one partner's networking (Burt, Lin, Seibert and colleagues); the sentence is ours.
At the top, a more uniform profile: more men, almost all white
To see the other side, the thesis ran a 24-question survey of lawyers at the large firms in June and July 2025: 100 partners and 259 non-partners (junior, mid-level, senior associates and others). Both groups are highly qualified, but differ in who they are. Pick a breakdown.
Partners100 · average age 44
Non-partners259 · average age 30
Sections 4.4.1 and 4.4.2 of Study 3. Each dot is a person; colors follow the thesis's percentages, rounded by us to whole people. Gray dots: other answers or no information.
In practice, clients still go through the partners
The leaders talk about a collective network, but the answers show social capital concentrated in the partners. Even among senior associates, those closest to partnership, most neither manage their own client relationships nor bring in new clients. Pick a question.
For partners, client relationships weigh most; for the others, technical knowledge
Both groups scored promotion criteria and sources of clients from 1 to 5. The ranking changes depending on who answers. Switch the question.
Not everything that seems obvious holds up
Four questions about everyday life in large firms. Think of your answer and tap the card to see what the lawyers said.
Sections 4.4.1 and 4.4.2 and Tables 11, 13 and 17 of Study 3. The count of traditional schools is ours, from Table 13.
Turning contacts into assets takes rules, culture and time
Governance
Committees and clear rules are not just about compliance: they keep the network from being tied to a few partners. Succession plans and a gradual handover of clients reduce the risk when someone leaves.
Careers
Promotion can measure, transparently, each person's contribution to the firm's network. And the author suggests making room for non-partners to build their own contacts early on.
Culture
Reward those who share clients and information, not only those who bill alone. Several firms said they have let go of technically excellent professionals whose attitudes ran against the firm's culture.
Diversity
For the interviewees, diverse teams open doors to new clients and markets. The thesis treats diversity as a concrete way to widen the network, not just a reputation issue.
What this research does not say
- The 18 firms are large, national in scope and chosen from rankings: the picture does not apply to small or mid-sized firms. · our note
- The leaders describe how the firm wants to work; the research did not observe the practices or measure whether the models bring more clients or profit. · our note
- The survey compares percentages without statistical tests, was answered by those who chose to take part, and does not break answers down by firm or by model. · our note
- The four models come from the author's reading of recurrence, convergence and relevance in the interviews; other researchers might group them differently. · our note
Credits
DURÇO, Fábio Ferreira. A gestão do capital social nos maiores escritórios brasileiros de advocacia full service [Social capital management in the largest Brazilian full-service law firms]. Doctoral thesis (Business Administration) — Universidade Presbiteriana Mackenzie, São Paulo, 2025. Advisor: Prof. Dr. Fellipe Silva Martins.
The author held a scholarship from Instituto Presbiteriano Mackenzie in the program. This version simplifies the work for a general audience; the full tables, quotes and references are in the original text.