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Perils Of Unfunded Obligations: 4 Key Questions

By ALM Staff | Law Journal Newsletters |
June 28, 2005

Editor's Introduction

As summarized by A&FP Board member Bill Brennan of Altman Weil, Inc. an “unfunded retirement program” is essentially a promise to pay partners a retirement benefit in the future from the firm's future profits. About 24% of law firms have an unfunded retirement plan (down from 57% in 1990), according to the 2005 Retirement and Withdrawal Survey for Private Law Firms, prepared by Altman Weil, Inc. In about 15 years over 30,000 lawyers will be retiring each year. To the extent these partners must be paid retirement benefits from the then-current profits of their respective law firms, those firms unprepared for this potentially huge financial liability will be at risk, and some may not survive.

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