Blog

In the last few weeks we have witnessed this question play out on the national stage. The events that led to President Biden’s decision not to seek re-election was a lesson for law firm partners of any age about the need to accept and plan for retirement. I have written and spoken frequently about how to approach the question of timing, since the situation is unique for every individual. (See, e.g., The Right Time to Retire: How Do You Know?) But here are a few thoughts that might be helpful to some of you.

• Pay attention to your mind and body. Some people advise leaving practice while you’re “on top.” But a lawyer’s career arc spans decades, and you may stay in top form for a long time after you’ve peaked. The key is to be honest with yourself about where you are on the downward curve of that arc. When your performance starts slipping, or you don’t have the energy or enthusiasm you used to have for work, it’s time to start developing plans for a post-career future.
• You be the one who decides. If you want to be one who decides your retirement date, then set one. The last thing you want is for others to tell you it’s time to go; at that point, you have held on too long and your options may be reduced. You want to make your retirement decision…
  
  read more >

Some law firms needlessly lose a significant amount of business when senior partners retire. Yet anticipating and preparing for those retirements with an effective client succession process can ensure that handovers go smoothly and clients stay with the firm when the relationship partner retires. This protects the firm’s finances and stability and has numerous other benefits as well.

Highlights of this issue:
• How partner retirements can lead to lucrative business opportunities for a law firm.
• Retirement resources that may be helpful.
• New publications that may interest you.
• My upcoming speaking engagements. If you’ll be in any of the cities where I’ll be, let me know if you’d like to get together.

Retirement and Client Succession
Partner retirements present valuable opportunities that too many law firms overlook. In firms of all sizes, senior partners often represent a large percentage – sometimes the majority – of the partners who control major client relationships and generate a disproportionate percentage of firm revenues. This means that their retirement can have a terrible, even catastrophic, financial impact on the firm if their clients decide to take their business elsewhere. After all, clients frequently use an outside lawyer’s retirement as a chance to look around for new representation, and in this competitive climate, there are many firms for them to choose from.

On the other hand, a partner’s pending retirement can give your firm numerous lucrative opportunities. If managed properly, transitioning clients to other lawyers in your firm can…

It has been 8 years since I started focusing on retirement and what it means for lawyers and their firms. I’d like to share with you some observations about the changes I’ve seen and the initiatives firms are undertaking in response to those changes.

When I began, few lawyers or firms realized the importance of preparing for retirement or had any idea how to do it. They figured that the only necessary advance planning was financial. Fortunately, that attitude is changing. There have been significant shifts regarding retirement thinking among both individual lawyers and law firms.

One shift I see is a growing awareness, openness and desire for help. As people now remain healthy and active far longer than ever before, their post-career lives can last decades. And though many older partners want to practice as long as they can, younger lawyers do not want or expect to spend most of their longer-than-ever lives in law practice.

Lawyers’ understanding of retirement is also changing. Rather than fearing it as an “ending” or descent into oblivion (or alternatively, as one long carefree holiday), they are starting to recognize that retiring is the beginning of a new stage of life. Even senior lawyers who are ready to slow down or step away from what they are doing, do not intend to spend the next few decades purely in travel and leisure. They want to stay actively engaged with the world because they…