The founder had built the firm over thirty years and intended to leave it well. The partners admired him, depended on him, and privately doubted the firm could hold its clients without him. None of this had ever been said in a meeting, which was precisely the problem.

Structuring the conversation

We interviewed every partner and the firm’s ten largest clients, separately and in confidence. The findings were more encouraging than the folklore: clients valued the institution more than its founder believed, and the partners were readier than they feared. The anxieties were real, but they were about sequencing, not capability.

A plan people could sign

The five-year transition plan set out equity transfer, client handover, and the founder’s changing role in stages that could be tested and adjusted. It passed unanimously. The founder called it the first succession conversation that had not felt like a eulogy.