The 3rd Reason: “This Year, My Internal Successor Will Offer to Purchase My Practice”

When questioning joining a Growing Law Firms, Senior Attorneys typically raise the following as their third question:

"Perhaps this is the year that my Internal Successor will offer to purchase my practice."

As Jeremy E. Poock, Esq. explains, there are 4 reasons why Internal Successors (junior partners, senior associates, or non-equity partners) typically do not want to purchase a Senior Attorney’s practice and can’t afford to either:

1. Internal Successors often view their role as a key employee and not a future business owner. “They look at practicing at your practice as it's just a job,” Poock says.

2. Internal Successors went to law school and not business school.

3. Internal Successors cannot afford to purchase a law practice as they have mortgages, car leases, children’s weddings to plan for, and saving for their own retirement. “When it comes to purchasing your law practice, they just can't afford to do so,” Poock points out.

4. And, for some reason, Internal Successors assume that their bosses (the Senior Attorneys) will never retire.