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 come out of law firms, and know which topics are third rails.) Out of politeness, they generally do not ask about it. But inevitably they grumble that relationship partners are retiring without having the courtesy to inform them ahead of time.
Everyone is aware of sports figures who retire badly. They hang on past their best-performing years, go to other teams where they do not play as well, and end up bowing out of their game in obscurity, their bodies injured or simply worn out. They had the chance to retire at the peak of their careers, and many times regret not doing so.
No senior partner wants to leave law practice this way. Yet many do, having resisted retirement out of fear of relinquishing their practices to younger lawyers. Everyone knows that once the partner’s clients are transitioned to the next generation, they are never coming back – even if someday the partner has a financial setback and must restart law practice. Reclaiming clients from the lawyers who are now serving them simply will not be an option. This knowledge adds an element of fear to a partner’s already fraught decision about when to retire. Partners may cite this fear to their firms when asked for an estimated retirement date, and may resist talking with clients about the topic for the same reason.
But there is a way to discuss retirement with one’s firm and one’s clients without appearing to admit that one is (or soon will be) over the hill. When a senior partner is retiring to something (like working on non-profit boards, perfecting a golf game, or starting a new business), it is easy to talk about leaving law practice as a seized opportunity to bow out of law practice in the prime of life. While fear is certainly an understandable response to such a big change, it should not be allowed to dictate how one lives life.
Discussion – particularly with clients — can then turn naturally to the talented younger partners who bring to the table fresh blood, new ideas, and new perspectives. Now the firm and clients can plan for a partner’s retirement without feeling they are intruding on anyone’s privacy. Once this conversation begins, one of the chief obstacles to effective succession planning is removed. Now the retiring partner can transition client relationships to successors on a reasonable timetable, maximizing the likelihood that the clients and younger partners will bond. The partner can then retire with the satisfaction of having left clients in good hands, having retired at the top of their game.
Timing one’s retirement is never easy, and law firms with effective retirement succession programs typically offer their senior partners counseling and support to help them decide when to exit law practice. This is a great idea, because it reflects a culture of respect toward firm elders, while giving a firm critical input about older partners’ retirement plans to help make sure their clients receive uninterrupted service when they leave. When framed this way, a discussion about retirement is far from a concession of old age and frailty. It is instead an expression of caring for clients, of regard for successors, and of fulfilling a duty to one’s partners. Retiring at the right time promises a new life that no lawyer will want to miss.
