Old Lady Lawyer: 4 Myths About Getting Rid Of Older Attorneys

A new euphemism for having the older workers walk the plank of job loss.

old lady lawyer elderly woman grandmother grandma laptop computerQuick, can anyone tell me what “juniorization” means? (I could reframe it as a Jeopardy answer in one word: “juniorization”). I hear buzzers. Yup, the correct question is “what is the pushing out of more senior workers in favor of the more junior ones, which is common in the banking industry?”

So far, that term hasn’t caught in the legal world, but we might as well add it to the mix of terms popular in our profession, including, but not limited to, “right-sizing,” “reduction in force,” “redundancies,” and similar euphemisms for having the older workers walk the plank of job loss.

This is not the first time I’ve written about this issue, nor will it be the last. (Sorry, readers, but sometimes hitting you over the head with a two by four is part of my job description.) “Juniorization:” what an interesting way to describe the casting aside of those dinosaurs who still have much to give and want to give.

The Yahoo article (and you can Google the term “juniorization” to find other articles on the word) pointed out several fallacies in the wholesale dumping of those older workers. Everything that article discusses applies just as much to our profession as to the finance world.

Let’s discuss several:

1. Older workers are too expensive. Maybe, maybe not. You do get what you pay for, and I wouldn’t be surprised if some older workers nearing retirement age (whatever that age might be), who are thinking about leaving voluntarily, might be willing to swap billable hour requirements for less pay. They might be amenable to job-sharing as they turn over their historical knowledge, including that so very valuable client relationship information, to the next generation of lawyers.

Some older lawyers might welcome a reduction in hours and a corresponding reduction in pay. What about part-time? Phased-in retirement? Instead of making dinosaur lawyers feel like they have nothing left to offer (and nothing could be further from the truth, even if it’s just the accumulated legal knowledge of a lifetime), show some creativity. Have older lawyers ever been asked about succession planning? How they’d like to move on and out? Surely, firms and corporate law departments can’t believe that older workers have no value, even at a reduced rate of pay. Wait, I guess they can and do.

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2. Older workers can’t and/or won’t use technology. Another red herring. Granted that there are still lawyers who clutch to their dictating equipment and don’t know how to fire up a laptop, but the vast majority of us have at least some tech skills and we are teachable. If we’re not teachable, it’s because some lawyers don’t want to be taught and stubbornly cling to letter-writing and other relics of an age long gone. They don’t last long in this “new normal.”

3. Firms don’t need experience in a crisis. Ha! Shall I say “Brexit” or let you say it? Yes, you can say (and you’d be right) that this is something not seen before. However, lawyers who have been through recessions (Great and not so great), meltdowns (Long Term Capital Management, anyone?) have the experience to “keep calm and carry on.” (Sorry, I couldn’t resist using that British slogan.)

Lawyers who have been around the block have seen it and done it. New crises crop up in different forms, but most dinosaur lawyers know how to respond, how to react, how to be proactive and preventive, whether it’s Brexit or some other event that is globe-shattering, at least to the particular client. Maturity and experience carry currency; at least they used to.

4. When dinosaur lawyers leave, on whatever basis, they don’t just pack up a bunch of boxes to take with them. They take something much more valuable, and that’s the client relationships they’ve built up, cultivated, and nurtured over the years. Sometimes, when the lawyer departs, clients are most unhappy at the treatment that “their lawyer” has received at the hands of the firm. So, the lawyer is not the only one walking out the door, the client is right behind. As one recruiter in the article noted, relationships matter, and trust is something built up over time, not just on the basis of one good outcome.

In these times of fierce competition for every legal billing dollar, a lawyer who has provided services to a satisfied client is worth more than some severance pay, if that is even part of the plank-walking. Not everyone can be a “rainmaker;” someone has to do the work.

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At the same time, for dinosaur lawyers in firms, their relationships with in-house counsel are changing. The GCs and senior lawyers who have made the outside firm hiring decisions are retiring (whether voluntarily or not), and thus, the contacts the law firm lawyers have had for decades are evaporating. The next generation of in-house lawyers is exactly that, the next generation, and they often have their own favorites among outside counsel and not usually from predecessor favorites of the previous in-house legal team. That is to be expected, but there’s still value that the “old folks” can bring to these new relationships.

One Biglaw partner told me that her in-house contacts have all dried up, that they’ve been “juniorized” or retired. As a very experienced and expert litigation partner, she now finds work as a “senior associate” within the firm, since she no longer has any business to bring in. However, almost forty years of expertise and experience have value that can’t be measured just by origination credits.

So, your final Jeopardy answer is: “It’s what senior lawyers (aka dinosaurs) can continue to supply to their clients, their colleagues, and the profession at large.” What’s the final Jeopardy question? “Seniorization.” How many of you got that right?


Jill Switzer is closing in on 40 (not a typo) years as a active member of the State Bar of California. Yes, folks, California, that state west of the Sierra Nevada, which everyone likes to diss. She’s had a diverse legal career, including stints as a deputy district attorney, a solo practice, and several senior in-house gigs. She now mediates full-time, which gives her the opportunity to see old lawyers, young lawyers, and those in-between interact — it’s not always pretty. You can reach her by email at oldladylawyer@gmail.com.