How and When to Tell Your Staff You’re Selling the Firm
September 29th, 2025

Building your firm was hard. Deciding it was time to retire was likely harder. But telling your staff you are moving on? For small firm owners, that might be the hardest task of all. ... Read More
Categories: Retirement/Succession
MSOs (Management Services Organizations) and the Future of Solo and Small Law Firm Ownership
September 10th, 2025

What if the future owner of your law firm isn’t another lawyer? Not long ago, that idea would have seemed preposterous. But the times today are a-changing. In a post earlier this year, I discussed the emerging trend of lawyers assuming investor roles, rather than practicing law, within law firms. And now, there’s another trend on the horizon: Management Services Organizations, or MSOs. This business model has already disrupted other professions such as dental, medicine, and accounting. Some of you reading this are now the targets of these investor-lawyers. ... Read More
Categories: Retirement/Succession
Appraising a Law Practice in Different Settings
August 29th, 2025
Law practices are often valued in divorce proceedings. As such, lawyers frequently assume that it should be relatively easy to apply similar valuation principles when trying to sell a practice. Nothing can be further from the truth.
... Read MoreWhat the 2025 Legal Trends Report Means for Your Succession Plan
August 15th, 2025

Each year, Clio’s Legal Trends Report offers a snapshot of where the legal industry is—and where it’s going. The 2025 edition highlights how firms are adapting to new technology, shifting client expectations, and evolving workforce dynamics. ... Read More
Categories: Uncategorized
How Part-Time Law Practice Can Set You Up for a Better Retirement
July 25th, 2025

It’s a mystery why so many lawyers assume part-time practice is only for new moms and dads. The reality is that part-time work can be a smart and strategic move for senior attorneys who want to step back without stepping away. For solo and small firm lawyers, it provides a gradual transition that maintains strong client relationships, ensures steady income, and allows time to plan for a full retirement. ... Read More
Categories: Retirement/Succession
Solos and Small Firm Owners: Don’t Delay Your Succession Planning
July 4th, 2025

Succession is perhaps the most significant long-term challenge facing soon-to-be-retired, baby-boomer solo practitioners and small law firm owners. This is understandable, as a variety of psychological and emotional factors stack the odds against you laying the foundation for a smooth transition. ... Read More
Categories: Retirement/Succession
The Lawyer’s Brain in Retirement: What Changes and Why It Matters
June 13th, 2025

Decades of legal practice mold the brain. But when the work stops, the brain begins to change, bringing consequences that are rarely discussed but widely felt. The legal profession demands constant mental engagement. Over time, this sharpens a lawyer’s ability to anticipate problems and navigate complexity with precision. But emotional transitions don’t follow the same process. ... Read More
Categories: Retirement/Succession
Valuing & Distinguishing Goodwill When Planning Your Firm’s Succession
May 23rd, 2025
When it comes to planning your law firm’s succession, a primary area of concern for your successor is whether your clients will choose to work with that successor after you leave. One way to assess that is to evaluate the type of goodwill that exists with your clients and whether that goodwill carries any transferrable value. ... Read More
Categories: Retirement/Succession
Trump v. The Legal Profession
May 2nd, 2025

If you’re like me, you have been scared to read the newspaper (the few who still do) or check your favorite online news source to learn what the Trump administration has done and continues to do to the legal profession. ... Read More
Categories: News
Tail Coverage for Retiring Solo Attorneys: Why You Need It and How It Works
April 22nd, 2025

You have spent years building your practice, but what happens when you step away? For solo attorneys, retirement is not just about closing cases and notifying clients. It’s also about ensuring peace of mind, knowing that nothing from your past practice will come back to haunt you. This includes malpractice claims that could surface years after you stop practicing. ... Read More
Categories: Retirement/Succession
Preparing for the Unexpected & the Inevitable: Law Firm Succession Planning for Disability & Death
April 2nd, 2025
Lawyers are notorious for thinking of ways things can go wrong for their clients and then determining the best ways to protect their clients from them. One calamity few lawyers ever consider, however, is their own unexpected disability that puts their career on hold—or worse, their death. ... Read More
Categories: Retirement/Succession
How Lawyers Are Becoming Investors - And Why It Matters
March 20th, 2025

Lawyers aren’t just advising private equity (PE) firms anymore, they’re becoming investors themselves, taking a page straight from the PE playbook. While the legal profession debates whether PE should own law firms, some lawyers have already made their move, quietly stepping into the role of investors themselves. ... Read More
Categories: Selling Your Practice
What Happens to Your Website if You Sell Your Practice?
March 5th, 2025
If your firm is like many solo and small law firms, a significant portion of your firm’s value derives from the amount of business your website generates. When selling a law firm—be it an actual sale or a transition to another firm as “of counsel”—it is therefore critical that the buying firm retains the benefit of the seller’s previous website traffic. ... Read More
Retiree Pay
February 19th, 2025

It should come as no surprise that many of today’s successful small to medium-size law firm founders are Boomers who are retiring in unprecedented numbers. These leaders hope to cash out and enhance their retirement nest eggs through either buyout payments from younger partners, or contractual post-retirement formulaic obligations that resemble pension payouts. ... Read More
Categories: Retirement/Succession
Can Rural America Reverse the Legal Desert Trend?
February 18th, 2025

Much of rural America can be described as a legal desert — vast distances where attorneys are few and access to justice falls short. For years, small towns and remote communities have struggled to attract and retain lawyers, forcing residents to navigate legal issues with little to no professional guidance. While these challenges aren’t new, recent demographic shifts and systemic barriers are adding a new layer of complexity to the mix. ... Read More
Categories: Retirement/Succession
Closing versus Selling a Law Practice: Why Not Get Money for Your Efforts?
February 11th, 2025
Are you a solo lawyer or small-firm owner facing retirement? Then, like most Boomer lawyers out there, you’re contemplating the option of selling your law practice. ... Read More
Categories: Selling Your Practice
Procrastinating on Succession Planning Endangers Your Legacy
January 31st, 2025

When it comes to the future of their law firms, solo practitioners and small law firm owners frequently delay or entirely avoid doing what is necessary for succession planning. Numbers don’t lie. Thomson Reuters’ State of U.S. Small Law Firms reports that succession planning is a focus for less than a quarter of law firms. I would also strongly suspect that even if 25% say they are “focusing” on succession planning, I’d be shocked if more than 10% were doing anything about it. Procrastinating on succession planning can lead to significant complications, including financial loss, client and staff confusion, and emotional distress for loved ones. Let’s explore some of the reasons why lawyers procrastinate. After that, I will discu… ... Read More
Categories: Retirement/Succession
Should Your Career Expire When Your Lease Does?
January 8th, 2025

Is Your Lease Dictating Your Retirement Plans? By far, the two biggest reasons clients contact me to put together an exit plans are: Unexpected failing health of the lawyer or the lawyer’s spouse The office lease is close to expiring The first reason is understandable and out of one’s control. But the second? When family and friends ask why you have chosen this very time to retire, do you really want your answer to be, “Well, my lease was up”? Like many of the lawyers I work with, I have mixed feelings about my retirement. That said, I sure hope my answer is a more thoughtful one, more along the lines of: I was starting to lose the fire in my belly. I want to travel and experience life outside of the office. It’s time to start che… ... Read More
Categories: Retirement/Succession
Don’t Be Afraid to Raise Your Legal Fees
December 15th, 2024

It’s that time of year when lawyers decide whether to raise their hourly rates or fixed fees. Many fear doing so, believing they will either be unable to attract new clients , or will incur the wrath of existing ones. Such worries are exaggerated; your practice will not suffer. And when you examine your bottom line after 2025, you will see that I was right. Here’s why. ... Read More
Don’t Be Confused by the Different Ways to Value Law Firms
November 20th, 2024

CPAs, appraisers, and other business evaluators use various valuation methods to value law firms. To be quite frank, none should be relied upon as a valuation technique for legal practices. In this post, I’ll break down the common valuation methods. I’ll briefly explain how each method works and how it falls short in measuring the value of a law firm. ... Read More
Categories: Selling Your Practice