Succession planning: passing the torch

• Sets out the timeline and provides insight into the process of succession planning for a law firm’s managing partner and department heads.

Succession planning is vital to business success, yet so many law firms manage to completely neglect this issue, leaving partners desperately searching for a suitable replacement when a managing partner is due to retire. This is a problem which is particularly impacting smaller law firms—statistics from the Law Society show that the average age of sole practitioners is 52, almost ten years older than that of partners and owners in private practice. Many law firms like to go with ‘what works’ and will happily continue with the same lawyers in the top jobs, until the inevitable happens and they are left blindsided and panicked about what the future of the firm will look like.

Failing to properly plan for a successor can be hugely detrimental, impacting not