At about 5 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 16, 2009, real estate lawyer Chad Key learned he had been elected a partner in Kelly Hart & Hallman. The partnership held its annual meeting and then invited the rest of the firm’s lawyers to a conference room. Management announced that five associates, including Key, all of whom are in the Fort Worth office, were promoted to the partnership.

“I was actually fairly busy that day, so that was probably a good thing to keep my mind off the meeting,” he says.