Employment Opportunities
Current Opportunities:
There currently are no employment opportunities at Fabyanske, Westra, Hart & Thomson, P.A. Please check back often for future opportunities.
Our firm combines many of the best attributes of large and small firms. Our construction law and commercial real estate groups are well-known and highly regarded in their fields and are larger than their counterparts at many of the Twin Cities’ largest firms. Yet we enjoy the advantages of a smaller firm, including an informal atmosphere and a minimum of bureaucracy.
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Here are a some more reasons why you might consider joining us:
Sophisticated Practice. We focus on serving leading entrepreneurs and business owners who seek our assistance with their principal business activities. Because we do not overstaff our clients’ matters, our associates can expect frequent direct client contact. The ability to develop client relationships affords our associates the opportunity to develop a thriving practice with dynamic clients.
Stability. Our clients’ need for our construction and real estate services tends to remain relatively stable, regardless of what part of the economic cycle their industries happen to be in. In addition, we have a broad and diverse client base within both of our principal practice areas, rather than relying on just a few clients. Therefore, our financial performance has been quite consistent over the years, without the booms and busts some firms experience. We also have been very stable because we are fiscally conservative. For example, unlike some firms, we do not borrow to fund cases or pay salaries. Finally, we do not seek to grow simply for the sake of growth, preferring instead to grow in response to our clients’ demands.
Associate Salary and Benefits. Our annual base salary starts at $110,000 for first-year associates. Our associates are also eligible to receive discretionary annual performance and merit bonuses. On top of that, the firm typically makes an annual contribution to each associate’s retirement plans equal to 9.5% of the associate’s annual base salary plus bonuses. If the associate receives a bonus or bonuses, the firm will also make a retirement plan contribution equal to 9.5% of the bonus or bonuses. Our benefits package also includes health, dental and disability insurance, and 401(k) retirement plan with a partial firm match. We also reimburse bar review and examination fees for admission to the Minnesota bar and pay for annual attorney licensing, state and local bar association memberships, and continuing legal education courses. Of course, our salary and benefits are subject to modification by the firm.
Shareholder Compensation. It may be tempting for a law student or recent graduate to assume that shareholder compensation at a firm is correlated to the starting salary the firm offers, or that the bigger a firm is, the more its shareholders earn. But being big does not guarantee that a law firm is highly profitable. Nor is it necessarily true that shareholders in smaller firms earn less than their big-firm counterparts. So, in deciding where to start your career, we encourage you to give substantial weight to your earning potential as a shareholder at the firms you are considering. Due to our sophisticated practice areas and sound financial management, we think our shareholders earn more than their contemporaries at most large Twin Cities firms. And that, we think, is a compelling reason to consider joining our firm.
Open Atmosphere. Our firm was formed in 1981 by a group of partners who broke off from a major Twin Cities law firm. They wanted to escape big firm bureaucracy and inefficiency. We continue to this day to place a high value on knowing everybody else in the firm well, and we keep committees, procedures, and meetings to a minimum. We also value openness about compensation and firm governance among shareholders. Unlike many firms, every shareholder has access to the firm’s financial and compensation information. If you are a law student, the benefits of an open small firm atmosphere may seem abstract. But we think our life style is much more pleasant than a big firm life style.
No Second-Class Partners and No Buy-In. We have only one class of shareholder and we do not require new shareholders to “buy-in”. Some law firms have more than one class of partner or shareholder. In those firms, the “non-equity” partners or shareholders typically cannot vote on firm matters and receive a salary, rather than participating in firm profits. Some law firms also require new partners or shareholders to “buy-in” by making a cash contribution in exchange for their new partnership or shareholder interest. The buy-in amount can be quite substantial.
Recruiting. Our objective is to attract and retain the very best attorneys. We strive to hire for the long term, and we hope that each associate we hire will become a shareholder. This is consistent with the nature of our practice. Because our clients demand experienced, top-quality representation, our practice is not based on assigning a large volume of routine or commodity work down to junior associates. Instead, we focus on supervising and training our associates so that they can gain the trust of our clients. This means that the principal value of our associates to us is not what they can bill as a junior associate, but rather, what they can contribute as an experienced senior associate and shareholder that our clients can rely on.
Summer Associate Program. We offer a summer associate program for second-year law students. We intentionally limit the number of summer associates we hire so that we can extend associate offers to all qualified candidates.
Laterals. We are always interested in qualified lateral candidates.
Shareholder Track. We consider associates for shareholder status seven and a half years after graduation from law school.
Contact Information. If you are interested in applying for a lawyer position, please send a cover letter, resume, and copy of your law school transcript to:
Dyanna L. Street (for litigation positions)
Steve Cox (for transactional positions)
Fabyanske, Westra, Hart & Thomson, P.A.
800 LaSalle Avenue, Suite 1900
Minneapolis, MN 55402
Phone: (612) 359-7600
Fax: (612) 359-7602