I have been getting more calls from lawyers wanting to retire, wanting to sell their law practices. As a result, I started writing a new book. I just finished Life After Law: What Will You Do With the Rest of Your Life? It is being edited now and will be available for sale in October.
As a result, I’ve been giving a lot of thought to the definition of Goodwill, the primary asset a lawyer has to sell. And though it is not consistent with the accounting profession’s definition, I have come upon a new definition that I believe is more meaningful to the average lawyer, whether buying or selling:
Goodwill can be defined as legacy … it’s your legacy that you’re passing along to others … It’s your reputation, your phone number, your system and way of doing business, all the intangible elements that made you successful and provides you, the selling lawyer, with what to sell … The better is your reputation, the more value your law practice will have.
What happens to your firm when you need to retire, or during unplanned circumstances such as death? In today’s clip, Ed discusses the importance of succession planning, and gives some helpful tips to get you started.
More elderly find they cannot afford to retire … they must continue to work. The recent economic woes have taken a big bite out of the retirement hopes and plans of the Baby Boomers. And this includes lawyers.
Just today, a lawyer in his late 60’s called me to talk about selling his practice and retiring. But, he said, he enjoys what he does and financially cannot see his way to retiring. For interesting tax reasons, he turned away from selling his practice. Of course, he didn’t consult me before he made this decision.
But, I find it interesting that the prediction made by the ABA only a few years ago that by 2020 (or perhaps sooner), 400,000 lawyers would retire. As evidenced by the phone conversation today, I believe the numbers are correct, but the timing is not. Succession planning, whether a solo or large firm practitioner, will require more thought than we anticipated. And experts should be consulted to determine sales potential, tax planning (both estate and consequences of a sale) and future personal life planning.
More than 23% of the Washington State Bar Association, a mandatory bar, are 60 years or older. Several years ago, the American Bar Association, a voluntary bar, estimated that 400,000 lawyers would retire in the next 10 years. For the ABA, that’s equal to its entire membership. And that’s equal to about 40% of all lawyers and a majority of private practitioners.
