How to Prepare Your Law Firm Financials for a Transition
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If you’re like most lawyers, you didn’t go to law school because you loved spreadsheets and financial reports. For most small firm owners, financial reporting receives only the level of attention needed to keep the firm operating. But when the time comes to sell the practice, clear financial records suddenly become very important. Financial clarity can be the difference between a smooth, professional transaction and a serious buyer losing interest. If your books are clean, consistent, and understandable, you strengthen your negotiating position. If they are messy or unclear, the purchase of even a strong practice can appear risky for a potential buyer to undertake. ... Read More
Categories: Selling Your Practice
Law Firm Marketplace Realities: Why Finding a Buyer Is Harder Than You Think
I recently wrote about how private equity is in the very early stages of exploring the law firm marketplace to disrupt it and, of course, make money. Here’s what these investors will find when they begin their journey to acquire law firms. Simply put, they have their work cut out for them. The law firm marketplace is immature, underdeveloped, and difficult to navigate. ... Read More
Categories: Retirement/Succession
When a Sale Won’t Work: Three Alternative Exit Options for Lawyers
After over 15 years advising retiring lawyers, one reality stands out: selling a law firm is far less universal than many believe. A sale assumes transferable client relationships, a willing, capable successor, and a business that can operate independently of the current owner. In smaller firms, those conditions are not always present. ... Read More
Categories: Retirement/Succession
The Contingent Exit Strategy
I recently worked with two elder solo attorneys in excellent health. They wanted to work 2-3 more years at almost a full-time pace. However, they were old enough and wise enough to know that a sudden health issue could derail all of that if they didn’t make a plan soon. I’ve written before about the risks of dying at your desk. Suffice it to say that if that occurs, you leave a mess for clients, staff, and especially grieving spouses and children. Further, selling a practice is way more difficult without the owner around. And even if it can be done, it is usually at fire sale terms. ... Read More
6 Succession Planning Mistakes Retiring Lawyers Make
When small firm owners fail to secure a successful exit, it’s rarely a market issue. More often than not, they get in their own way long before the market ever enters the picture. I’ve spent over fifteen years having conversations with lawyers considering retirement, and I’ve noticed a clear pattern. When those conversations don’t progress, it’s rarely because the attorney decided to work with someone else. It’s usually because the lawyer isn’t ready to confront the decisions in front of them. This post will explore some of the most common ways lawyers unintentionally undermine their own exit from practice. ... Read More
Categories: Retirement/Succession
Who Are You Without Law? The Emotional Realities of Lawyer Retirement
Most retiring lawyers assume the most challenging part of selling their firm will be finding the right buyer or negotiating the best deal. In truth, it is the emotional side of the transition that surprises them the most. ... Read More
Categories: Retirement/Succession
So, What’s My Law Firm Worth?
It should come as no surprise that the question most prospective clients ask me is, “What is my law firm worth?” My response is always as follows: Imagine it’s Friday afternoon and you ride off into the retirement sunset never to return to the practice of law. Then, on Monday morning, the phone rings at your old desk, and your successor answers. ... Read More
The New Frontier of Law Firm Ownership: Private Equity Comes Knocking
Wall Street is beginning to scratch the surface of the unique investing opportunities in the legal profession. You may be thinking, “Didn’t those same folks disrupt the medical, dental, and accounting professions?” Yes, they did, and our profession is their next target. ... Read More
Categories: Business Development
What Are the Options for Selling a Law Firm?
If you are considering selling your law firm, you have two basic options. They are: Have an existing associate or associates (if you have associates) buy you out, or Transition to a third party (sell to or go “of counsel” with another firm). Let’s take a look at the considerations for each. ... Read More
How and When to Tell Your Staff You’re Selling the Firm
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
