Law firms have the reputation of being—from an internal perspective—more "command and control" organizational environments than the typical corporation.

Please, don't get defensive:  What Fortune 500 has "classes" of "associates" that typically rise in lockstep until the climactic up-or-out moment?  Even top-flight management consulting firms and investment banks allow for people who make Managing Director at preternaturally young ages, and likewise for people who make tremendous contributions for years on end without being put to pasture.

 The always erudite, readable, and sane Warren Bennis makes a point that cannot be made too often, no matter how it fails to take with the Michael Eisner's of the world, that the approach of the Michael Dell's of the world is the only sound way to build lasting organizations where everyone feels ownership and a shared cause.  Given the price of even a first-year associate these days, how can you afford to approach it any differently?  Fungible commodities, in the long run, they are not.