Approximately 30% to 40% of law firm attorneys are composed of senior partners. Law firm bottom lines could significantly benefit if firms created a solid plan to maximize the revenue they bring into their firms. It is obvious that they have the experience, connections, and ability to mentor more junior lawyers. Senior partners are also...
At many law firms, the succession strategy is to “Stay the Course.” But this isn’t a productive strategy. For a succession plan to be effective, it must be forward-looking and allow for adjustments as new challenges develop. “Stay the Course” is inherently backward-looking and unresponsive to changing client needs and events. So when a law...Continue reading
Law firms owe much of their success to the hard work of baby boom generation senior partners. I know these folks well—I was one of them before I retired. They have big investments in their firms, reflected by big capital account balances. They consider these investments risk-free and expect returns of funds on demand when...Continue reading
Often, maturing partners at law firms are sensitive about discussing retirement. The very utterance of the word “retire” can feel like a concession to old age and weakness, an admission that a partner is, like Miss Jean Brodie, past her prime. Clients understand that this is why older partners avoid the topic. (Most in-house lawyers...Continue reading
In this newly published article in Business of Law Digest (BOLD), I take up some of the more sensitive and frustrating aspects of partner succession planning. “Baby Boom generation law partners are not doing a particularly good job of retiring from practice. They know they will have to leave the profession someday, but cannot imagine...Continue reading
The last thing a lawyer building a practice wants is to be invisible. Heightened visibility, after all, is the objective of all marketing. To build a law business, one must be very visible. The goal is to be a recognized thought leader in one’s chosen practice area, prolific in the industry press and on media...Continue reading
A retiring partner must put in a lot of work to successfully transition clients to junior partners. It isn’t always easy to get them to do it. As an advisor to law firms about retirement succession, I share the strategies and initiatives I executed to transition my $6 million practice to younger partners. I worked...Continue reading
We spend decades being lawyers. By the time we reach retirement age, we’ve devoted more time to being lawyers than almost anything else in our lives. Many of us have been lawyers for longer than we’ve been spouses and life partners, and longer than we’ve been parents. We work hard. We often have few outside...Continue reading
Mandatory retirement is a hot button issue for many law firms. All would prefer that older partners leave law practice when their willingness or ability to contribute to the firm’s success has run its natural course. Making retirement compulsory at a certain age can help accomplish this objective, depending on a firm’s compensation and ownership...Continue reading
It took a devastating personal tragedy – the death of one of my children – to get me thinking about the mechanics of retirement. Before that horrific event, I never thought about the day I’d leave the practice of law. I saved for it, but I didn’t think about when it might happen. I was...Continue reading