Whose life is it, anyway: are mandatory retirement policies a necessary feature of succession planning or an invitation to an age discrimination lawsuit?

Today's courts are likely to look beyond the title of "partner" and analyze all of the relevant factors before deciding whether a particular individual is a "true partner," or simply an employee whose title happens to be partner. The judicial decisions that have placed the i...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:CPA Practice Management Forum 2008-02, Vol.4 (2), p.5
Main Authors: Fleishman, Rachel S, Steer, Richard L
Format: Magazinearticle
Language:English
Subjects:
Accounting firms
Age discrimination
Committees
Court decisions
District courts
Employees
Employers
Employment discrimination
Federal court decisions
Judges & magistrates
Law firms
Mandatory retirement
Partnership agreements
Partnerships
Retirement age
Retirement policies
State laws
Subpoenas
Succession planning
Succession planning (Business)
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Summary:Today's courts are likely to look beyond the title of "partner" and analyze all of the relevant factors before deciding whether a particular individual is a "true partner," or simply an employee whose title happens to be partner. The judicial decisions that have placed the issue of mandatory retirement age policies and the risks of de-equitization in the limelight are discussed. In August 2007, the American Bar Association adopted recommendations that called for law firms to discontinue mandatory age-retirement policies and replace them with individual evaluations of senior partners. To protect against claims of age discrimination from de-equitized partners, a partnership should consider adopting an objective set of factors to be considered in making any such decision. Perhaps the best advice a partnership can be given today is to get sound legal advice about their retirement policies, whether that means amending existing mandatory retirement policies or adopting new policies.
ISSN:1556-0899