Succession Top of Mind at Law Firms, But Getting It Done Is Hard

Chase Simmons of Polsinelli is the first to admit that his law firm’s decision to name him as its new leader didn’t happen quickly.

“We started talking about the need for a succession plan five or six years out,” Simmons, who became the 825-lawyer firm’s chair and CEO on Jan. 1, told Bloomberg Law. “We had a first generation of leaders, and the firm had grown greatly so there was a need to look across the entire firm to decide what we wanted. We then changed our mind a couple of times over what the process would be.”

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