Reshaping How Large and Midsized Law Firms Think About Retirement Succession (And Getting It Right in the Process)

It used to be that corporate clients hired law firms, not lawyers. When senior partners retired, it was understood that their clients would automatically shift their allegiance to younger members of the firm. This is not so anymore. 

General counsels of big companies now say they hire lawyers, not law firms. As a result, corporate clients no longer remain with a firm reflexively after a senior partner retires. But clients can be persuaded to stay if retiring partners invest the time and effort in thoughtfully curating new relationships with their successors. 

This program - offered by David Wood, a former partner with a large, national firm, now retired - will discuss why most law firms devote little effort to succession, despite what can be substantial revenue losses when partners retire without migrating their practices to the next generation of firm attorneys. The program will share the precise steps required to plan and execute these client transitions that David perfected while transitioning his large practice to successor partners. Finally, the program will address how clients are beginning to require greater transparency from their law firms about succession, and how firms can respond positively to this trend.

1. Review why most law firms pay little attention to retirement succession

2. Discuss how this inattention impacts retiring partners' clients, their firms, and their younger partners

3. Identify the tasks required to execute an effective succession plan

4. Discuss how clients are reshaping the way firms think about succession