Blog

The 2024 Retirement Best Practices Survey I wrote about in my previous newsletter is still open. The survey is intended to ascertain what law firms can do to support lawyers through succession planning and retirement. If you are a lawyer who is retiring now, planning to retire soon, or starting to think about retiring, I hope you’ll answer the survey questions. And if you know lawyers who fall into any of those categories, please forward the link to them and ask them to complete the survey. It takes only 5-10 minutes and is completely anonymous; whether you include your name or firm is entirely optional. https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/IdaAbbottSuccessionPlanning 

Here’s how my survey can benefit your law firm specifically: If your firm has at least about 25 partners to whom this survey is directed, or if your firm is part of a law firm network whose total number of partners is sufficiently large, I can create a dedicated link for your firm or network. (A substantial number of potential respondents is necessary to generate enough responses.) The survey questions will remain the same but the dedicated link will produce firm- or network-specific data that will be directly relevant and highly useful to your firm or group as it manages partner succession and retirement. If you would like a dedicated link or for more information, please get in touch with me.

UN-RETIREMENT
‘I flunked retirement.” I’ve heard that line many times when I…

July/August 2024

Law firms that call me to discuss partner retirement and succession processes almost always ask about “best practices.” Because there has not been much interest or activity regarding partner retirement until recently, there are no clear answers. I tell them about various firm policies and practices that I consider excellent, and also suggest how they can create their own. But for me to advise firms on how they can best help their lawyers retire in a way that satisfies the needs and interests of both the retiring lawyers and the firm, I would like to know what my readers are thinking and doing in this area.

Many of you are retired, retiring or planning to retire in the next several years. And even if you’re not, you likely know other lawyers who are. So, I have created a brief survey to ask about your experience – how you’re approaching retirement and client succession, if and how your firm is supporting you, and what you would like your firm to do. It will take no more than 10 minutes to respond. Feel free to send the survey link to any lawyers you know, in your firm or elsewhere, who might want to participate. Here’s the survey link.

Please note that this survey is confidential. You do not need to provide your name unless you want me to follow up with you or to send you a summary of the…

Have you noticed that retirement has become a popular topic of books, articles, webinars, and other media? The attention is warranted – and urgent- because more people are reaching what we think of as “retirement age” than ever before in history: more than 4.1 million Americans each year, or more than 11,200 people every day, are turning 65. (This period is actually trademarked “Peak 65.”) And since people are also living longer, healthier, more active lives than ever before, they may spend 30 or more years in retirement. So as a society – and as a profession – we are beginning to talk very openly about redefining what retirement means, including what will have to change to accommodate new approaches to work and retirement.

The demographics of the legal profession make the need to reconsider retirement even more imperative.  Nearly 14% of lawyers, or about 1 in 7, are over 65. That’s double the percentage of all US workers over 65 (7%). The median age of lawyers is 46.3, which mean that more than half of all lawyers are over that age; in fact, 67% of lawyers are 40 or older.

This makes it likely that most law firms have a substantial number of lawyers in their 60s, 70s or older. In fact, one demographic analysis found that in 2022, 36% of partners at Top 200 law firms were past or nearing 65 and 6% of partners were 71-88 years of…