Boomer Law Partner Retirement?

As Baby Boomer partners retire, law firms face increasing costs and client issues was published in the ABA Journal. The article focuses on the upcoming retirement of law partners from the Baby Boomer and Silent Generations cohorts. “Nearly half of the partners in the nation’s top 200 law firms are Baby Boomers or members of the older Silent Generation. And that means there will be a wave of upcoming retirements that will be the most ever experienced by BigLaw…Sixteen percent of partners will retire in the next five years and 38 percent will retire in the next decade, the American Lawyer (sub. req.) reports….”

The impact of these potential retirements will ripple across law firms, including leadership, client relations, and revenues. The firms will also face other costs-the actual costs of paying for retirements from pensions, revenues, return of capital, etc.  The article also notes that some firms are taking specific steps to weather this retirement wave by “trying to reduce retirement costs by raising the retirement age; capping the annual payout from annual earnings; or changing the payout formula, and switching to defined contribution plans in which the lawyers carry the risk of a declining market.”