Life of leisure on
hold for lawyers
The recession has dashed
dreams of early retirement for
many Canadians, including lawyers. Other financial and life-style factors are also pushing
lawyers to stay in practice, often
until well into their senior years.
“Early retirement is not a
viable option for most lawyers,”
said Warren Bongard, vice-president and co-founder of ZSA
Legal Recruitment in Toronto.
Money is at the heart of the
problem, he said. “The capital
built up over time is not usually
enough to allow [early retire-
ment]. All profit is basically
taken out of the firm year after
year. Therefore, there is no
equity in the firm, so unless
partners have socked away a
nest egg, they will need to con-
tinue working.”
That need is magnified in the
wake of a global economic down-
turn, said John Ohnjec, division
director of Robert Half Legal in
Ottawa. “Generally speaking,
professionals are re-examining
the question of whether they can
retire early. Lawyers are in the
same boat. Like the rest of the
population, they have been
affected by the recession.”
A study of 20,000 working
and retired people from 26 coun-
tries AXA Group, an inter-
national insurance company with
Canadian headquarters in North
York, Ont., discovered an increas-
ing number of Canadians believe
they will be forced to take their
retirement a little later than pre-
viously hoped, a finding research-
ers concluded is likely linked to
the recent economic crisis.
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