Partnership promotions, Connecticut firm leaders say, continue to have more to do with who’s available than how the economy is doing. When a prized associate is knocking on the door, keeping him or her around for the long term, they agree, remains law firms’ primary concern.

Yet how firms entice their up-and-comers to stick around has grown increasingly complicated. Equity partnership, for most firms, has become more the exception than the rule. And this year, that continues to be the case.