The good news for associates is that more of them made partner in 2008 compared with last year. The downside is that their firms also got bigger, making new partner growth a relative letdown.

A snapshot of 25 of the nation’s largest law firms shows that they appointed 5.2% more of their attorneys to partner than they did in 2007. At the same time, however, those same firms grew by 6.6%, indicating that the boost in partnership promotions didn’t keep pace with expansion overall.