However, as Linklaters’ former managing partner prepares to take up his new role later this month, several City firms are looking at how best to help their partners prepare for a life outside of the law. Most want more options than simply retiring in their early 50s and spending the next 30 years hacking their way around a golf course.
Clifford Chance, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Simmons & Simmons have all pushed this up the agenda and are now actively looking at ways to help soon-to-depart, older members of the firm decide on a second career. The upside is clear. Leaving the law suddenly becomes a much less daunting prospect for the partner and the firm benefits from a more extensive and valuable alumni network. From business to the voluntary sector to academia, the choices on offer are invitingly broad.
But simply helping older partners build a career beyond their firm is not the complete solution. US firms marvel at the amount of 50-something talent that each year walks out of
There are clear cultural differences between the US and UK on this — the prospect of working into your 80s, a la Skadden’s Joe Flom, sends a shudder down the spine of most City partners — but the typically more flexible American remuneration systems and the widely-used counsel position give US firms a clear advantage in keeping those that want to stay.