Why Is Nobody Selling Their Practice

As we have explored throughout this series, the sale of a law practice is now ethically permissible in New York. Rule 1.17 of the Rules of Professional Conduct expressly allows lawyers to sell a practice, including goodwill. Yet despite that change, relatively few small and suburban firm owners actually sell their firms. Instead, many attorneys simply close their doors when they retire. That raises an obvious question. Why is nobody selling their practice?

Part of the answer is identity based. Lawyers, particularly solo and small firm practitioners, often do not think of their firms as businesses with transferable value. We think of ourselves as professionals, not entrepreneurs or builders of a sellable asset.

Another challenge is that many firms are too dependent on the individual lawyer. In countless practices, the attorney is the rainmaker, the client relationship manager, the institutional knowledge base, and sometimes even the operational system itself. If the lawyer steps away, there may be little left that feels transferable to a buyer.

This issue becomes even more pronounced when lawyers wait too long to plan. By the time many practitioners begin thinking seriously about succession, they are already winding down, reducing hours, or preparing to retire quickly. That leaves little time to build systems, transition client relationships, develop staff, or strengthen recurring revenue streams. Buyers are attracted to stability and predictability. A firm in late-stage decline is much harder to market.

There is also the simple reality that there is no well-developed marketplace for law firm sales, particularly in suburban communities. If you want to sell a house, there are brokers, listing platforms, and standardized valuation models. The same is true for most businesses. Law firm sales, by contrast, are often informal and relationship driven. Many transitions happen quietly, by word of mouth, or not at all.

At the same time, buyers themselves have become more selective. Firms looking at acquisitions or mergers want clean financials, modern technology, documented systems, trained staff, and transferable client relationships. They do not want to inherit disorganization, outdated processes, or a paper rolodex.

The good news is that this problem is solvable. Lawyers who begin planning early can dramatically improve the marketability of their firms. By building systems, strengthening branding, investing in staff, embracing technology, and gradually transitioning client relationships, a practice becomes far more transferable and valuable.

Ultimately, the question should not simply be why is nobody selling their practice, the better question may be whether lawyers are building practices that can actually be sold. Succession planning is not just about leaving a practice. It is about creating a firm with value that survives beyond the individual lawyer who built it.