Walker Clark
Worldview Archives
The Four Pillars of Successful Founder Succession
Founder succession is not a retirement date, a farewell dinner, or a buyout agreement.
It is a multi‑year transformation that reshapes how the firm makes decisions, serves clients, develops people, and funds its future. When this transformation rests on a solid foundation, the founder can step away with confidence, the next generation can lead with authority, and the firm can thrive well beyond the handoff.
Why don’t they want to become partners?
This is not just something that we can blame on "the Millennials."
For the past 20 years, partners from law firms of all sizes, in almost every part of the world, frequently have told me that they can't understand why so many of their best associates and non-equity partners decline the offer of equity partnership.
Are law firm “partners” obsolete?
In the past few weeks, I have enjoyed stimulating discussions with several Walker Clark clients about whether their law firms should have non-equity partners.
This subject leads to one basic question that has profound implications for many law firms today:
Should we have partners at all?
