Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

Compulsory partner retirement after Scott v Walker Morris: evidencing legitimate aims, less discriminatory alternatives, and practical reforms to appraisal, equity and exit policies for law firms

Published on: 28 February 2025

Published by a Law360 reporter

Legal News

Article summary

Lawyers warned firms to consider less discriminatory alternatives in light of a successful claim by Martin Scott that Walker Morris' refusal to allow him to stay on as a senior partner after he turned 63 was unlawful

Raymond Silverstein, head of employment at Browne Jacobson LLP, said the judgment published on 20 February 2025 sends a clear message to law firms: if you intend to impose and enforce a retirement age of 60, you need more than a broad assertion of ‘succession planning’ — you must be ready with evidence and data. Commentators observed that compulsory retirement remains prevalent among City practices, notwithstanding legal reforms that have limited when it can lawfully be used. Unpublished survey findings from the Association of Professional Partnerships show the practice began to wane in 2011, the year the UK prohibited compulsory retirement, with around two-thirds of professional services partnerships operating such policies at that point. That fall has since reversed, and by 2023 approximately half of firms had reinstated a mandatory retirement age...

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