Procrastinating on Succession Planning Endangers Your Legacy

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When it comes to the future of their law firms, solo practitioners and small law firm owners frequently delay or entirely avoid doing what is necessary for succession planning. Numbers don’t lie. Thomson Reuters’ State of U.S. Small Law Firms reports that succession planning is a focus for less than a quarter of law firms. I would also strongly suspect that even if 25% say they are “focusing” on succession planning, I’d be shocked if more than 10% were doing anything about it.

Procrastinating on succession planning can lead to significant complications, including financial loss, client and staff confusion, and emotional distress for loved ones. Let’s explore some of the reasons why lawyers procrastinate. After that, I will discuss how to overcome these barriers.

1. Fear of Death

The psychological discomfort created by succession planning cannot be overstated. Contemplating one’s mortality and one’s inevitable death is never pleasant. It is human nature for lawyers (and others) to delay planning to avoid the distress, fear, and worry surrounding death.

Of course, the unsettling emotions caused by retirement and the potential loss of power, control, identity, and status hardly make the situation any better. Further, succession planning conversations can create conflicts among a firm’s remaining partners and, occasionally, among family members because of historical family dynamics.

2. Perceived Difficulty

Succession planning can seem overwhelming. The process often involves valuing a firm’s practice, determining successors, contacting clients, retaining professionals, and drafting various legal documents. You’ve probably heard of “paralysis by analysis?” That means being unable to move forward or take action because of either overthinking a situation or feeling incompetent to make the decisions inherent in succession planning.

3. Assuming Continued Health and Capacity

As I’ve written before, lawyers, just like everyone else, have a 100% mortality rate. Even if you feel and look pretty good at 70 or even 75, that’s hardly a guarantee that you will feel or look the same when you are 80 or 85. Declining health—your own or a spouse’s—could limit your ability to practice, perhaps suddenly.

Thinking that you have time down the road to deal with succession planning is often wishful thinking. Don’t continue to kick the can down the road. There may not be as much time as you think.

4. Underestimating the Benefits

Lawyers tend to get tremendous satisfaction from achieving their clients’ goals and, consequently, experience FOMO (fear of missing out) on helping clients. While doing so, they ignore the FOMO of the peace of mind factor that succession planning generates. That is, knowing that clients, staff, and loved ones have been protected. Lawyers completely disregard the positive impact of succession, viewing it as a burden instead of a positive and beneficial process.

5. Lack of Knowledge

Another significant factor contributing to succession planning procrastination is the lack of knowledge. How many CLEs have you seen promoted about the topic? Not many, I suspect. Without knowing what to do, lawyers feel uncertain about how to proceed best. Furthermore, fears of the time commitment and cost create two more roadblocks to procrastination.

6. Procrastination Comes Naturally

Finally, for some, procrastination is simply in their DNA. They have been delaying things their entire life. Why should succession planning be any different? It’s not.

Conquering Procrastination

Knowing the reasons behind procrastination is a big step towards overcoming it. Here are additional concrete ways to defeat it.

  1. Learn: Spend an hour online and google “law firm succession planning.” There’s plenty of stuff out there, some of which I wrote myself. It’s not that complicated. You were smart enough to pass the bar and certainly smart enough to grasp the succession planning basics.
  2. Hire Experts: There are consultants (yours truly) and other professionals who can help. Ignore the lawyer’s self-talk of “I can do this myself.” Yeah, you, maybe. But do you have the time to figure it out? Do you know all of the possible options? How do you even know what your practice may be worth? Experts can guide you through the entire process and provide personalized advice based on your circumstances. Remember, you only have one chance to exit the profession. Added expertise makes sure you do it right.
  3. Create Goals and Deadlines: Break down the process into a handful of goals and set specific deadlines for completing each. Establishing achievable goals and timelines can create a sense of urgency.
  4. One Step at a Time: Focus on the first task that you just created. Finish task number one, and hopefully that will provide you with momentum to begin task number two and so on. As one procrastination put it, “once you get started, one is typically able to keep going. Getting started is everything.”
  5. Communicate: Discuss your succession planning intentions at the firm with those who need to know. Seek their input when necessary. While you may think you may live forever, the people you work with do not. They will be grateful to know what the future will hold for them.
  6. The Worst Case Scenario: Lawyers are trained to think about that. Those scenarios can be pretty bad in succession planning. I’ve worked with a few grieving spouses. It’s not much fun, and all were avoidable. You’re doing no one any favors by procrastinating. You’re leaving a mess for your clients, staff, and family. Whatever legacy you have built will come crumbling down in no time.

Get the Help You Need for Succession Planning

Solo practitioners and small law firm owners frequently procrastinate succession planning. The whys are uncomfortable emotional feelings, perceived difficulty, and ignorance. Understanding these challenges and employing specific tactics to deal with them can overcome it and ensure that their legacy remains intact.

Ultimately, succession planning is a gift of peace of mind to oneself, clients, staff, and most of all, to loved ones, providing peace of mind. I have helped over 200 lawyers in more than 30 practice areas plan for the future of their law practice. To learn more about how to get started, give me a call at (612)524-5837 or connect with me online.

Categories: Attorney Retirement