Nov 12, 2020
Law Firm Owner Succession/Exit Strategy – Admitting Associates to Partnership
Question:
I am the sole owner of a litigation firm in San Antonio, Texas. In addition to myself I have two associates and three staff members. Both associates have been with the firm over five years. I am 66 and am just starting to think about my exit plan down the road. While I am not in a hurry to retire or work less I believe that I should at least be thinking about my options. I would appreciate your thoughts.
Response:
I agree that you should begin planning for your eventual retirement and exit from the practice. Anytime a sole owner has associates on board I believe that an internal transition of the practice to those associates should be the first option explored. It can benefit your associates, your staff, and your clients. External practice sales, merger, and Of Counsel arrangements with another firm can be explored after you have explored the feasibility of transitioning your practice to your associates. This assumes that they even have an interest in owning a law firm. Often we find that they don’t.
You should begin exploring whether your associates have such an interest and you may want to consider selling them each a minority interest now so they don’t become dissatisfied and leave the firm and you empty handed. I don’t think I would wait until you are ready to exit the practice to offer them a partnership interest. Partnership is an important career marker for associates and many will move on if they feel their careers are stagnated and they are not advancing.
If you decide to offer them a partnership interest and they accept begin injecting them into client relationships and firm management. This will help ensure a smooth transition when you retire and exit the practice.
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John W. Olmstead, MBA, Ph.D, CMC
Posted at 08:19 AM in Succession/Exit Strategies
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