Babyboomer lawyers facing retirement problems
The babyboomer “bulge” of lawyers heading towards retirement are finding problems disposing of their practices, the New Zealand Law Society’s LawTalk magazine says in its latest issue.
LawTalk says there are indications that law firm succession – especially when there is a sole practice to pass on – is emerging as a big challenge, especially for small city and small-town firms.
“Do [lawyers] put the practice up for sale and hope to find the right buyer, or do they just lock the door and walk away from a life’s work? And when they go on the market they’re selling possibly more than a century of legal history, the ghosts of former partners and a lifetime of hard work – how do they factor that into the price tag?”
Whanganui lawyer John Tripe says his firm has been in practice for over 100 years.
“From what I can see, if I want to go, I’m going to have to say to someone else in town ‘here it is’ – it seems a case of just giving it away or locking the door for the last time and forgetting it,” he told LawTalk.
Auckland legal practice management consultant Ashley Balls says if the demographics of the legal profession in any way mirror society, some serious problems are going to emerge for lawyers fast-reaching a “certain age”.
“So many firms in New Zealand are set up for one-generation survival,” he says. “There is very little quality succession planning being done at all.”
Mr Balls says the immediate “problem” area is the 7.5% of lawyers aged over 55, many of whom have yet to develop an exit strategy.
He says increased life expectancy will result in this group having to plan for active retirements of 20 years or more.