Careers
More Lawyers May Delay Retirement Due to Stock Drop, Crowding their Firms
Posted Jan 8, 2009, 09:15 am CST
By Debra Cassens Weiss
The drop in the stock market is likely to make many lawyers think twice about taking retirement. At the same time, firms squeezed by the economic downturn can’t afford the incentives to entice older partners to leave.
Many firms are opting to do away with mandatory retirement at a time when about 250,000 Baby Boomer lawyers are nearing retirement age, the National Law Journal reports. The result is that law firms with less work to hand out will be flush with older lawyers.
Blogger and law firm consultant Bruce MacEwen discussed the problem with the National Law Journal. "You have to clear the decks for new blood," MacEwen said. He noted that few associates are leaving firms, leaving firms with too many older and younger lawyers.
The story profiles Steven Deruyter, a partner with Minneapolis-based Leonard, Street and Deinard who is nearing retirement age. Deruyter’s retirement fund has lost about 40 percent of its value. Now he’s rethinking his retirement plans. "I probably could retire, but I won't be as comfortable doing so," he told the publication.
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