Succession Planning: Positioning Your Expert Witness Practice for Reduced Workload, Takeover, or Eventual Sale

Steven Babitsky, Esq.

 

Many expert witnesses do not adequately plan for the potential sale of their forensic practices. Here are the 10 Biggest Mistakes Experts Make in Transition/Succession Planning:

 

Mistake #1

Thinking that their skills are so unique they simply cannot be replaced.

 

Mistake #2

Thinking that their practice is so dependent on them and their reputation that it has no value.

 

Mistake #3

Experts frequently will wait until they are in a crisis (health, disability, age, etc.) before they start to even think about succession/transition planning.

 

Mistake #4

Experts believe that transition/succession planning means they have to retire and give up practicing.

 

Mistake #5

Experts do not adequately consider the value that their client list and goodwill may have to other experts.

 

Mistake #6

Clients, lawyers, and insurance companies will not accept/hire a new expert.

 

Mistake #7

If I train/mentor an expert he/she will steal all of my clients.

 

Mistake #8

Taking on a new associate and mentoring him/her will be a chore and a distraction and take away from my practice.

 

Mistake #9

I will make less money when I have to pay to support an associate.

 

Mistake #10

Young, less-experienced experts will not “have the money” to buy my practice.

 

Conclusion

The art of succession/transition planning and sale of expert witness practices is in its infancy. More and more experts will start to view their practice as a “business.” Experts who develop an exit strategy are best positioned to generate a stream of revenue after they reduce their active involvement in the practice or retire completely.