All firms have partners that make enormous contributions to their firms. (If not, they should not be partners!) What happens when these partners retire? Different firms have different approaches. Many large firms adopt the “cliff” approach – you are no longer a partner so goodbye. At the other extreme some firms allow partners to linger for ever – but to what avail?  

This session will hear some real life stories and will then debate what best practice should be. Within this discussion we will draw out the pros and cons for the firm and for the retiring partner – and the mismatch these opposing views might give rise to and the question of “fairness” between partners.  We will also discuss whether age discrimination legislation helps or hinders the issue.

Hopefully, this debate will provide food for thought for both managing partners as to the best way of retaining the value of retiring partners and equally importantly the thought processes that retiring partners should go through about the value they can best add.