The Indiana State Bar Association is working to provide retirement and succession planning resources for Indiana attorneys seeking to exit the profession. Below you will find suggested guides, articles, and programs.

ISBA staff will update this page with additional resources routinely, so be sure to check back. If you have a specific topic you’d like to see covered, let us know »

Retirement and Succession Planning: A Guide for Indiana Attorneys

From identifying successors and managing client files to updating your law license and handling IOLTA funds (on top of normal retirement considerations), exiting the legal practice can a daunting process. Retirement and Succession Planning: A Guide for Indiana Attorneys offers a roadmap.

Find professional advice, valuable resources, and practical tools to help you navigate your retirement journey. Topics include:

• Overcoming obstacles to retirement and succession planning
  
• Saving for retirement
• Identifying successors
• Notifying clients and colleagues
• Selling your practice
• Managing your insurance
• Closing your IOLTA account
• Sample forms and templates
• And more

Preview the Table of Contents and Introduction »

CLE

• [2.0 hr. CLE/Ethics] Everything You Need to Know About Retirement Planning and More, John C. Trimble and Ted A. Waggoner
• [1.0 hr. CLE] Doing Pro Bono Without (or With) an Active Indiana License, Dana Luetzelschwab
• [1.0 hr. CLE/Ethics] Together Stronger: The Ethics of Sharing Administrative Burdens and Succession Planning, Cory Sprunger and Mitch Sprunger

Articles

• “Hallucinations, When Lawyers Fall Victim to Client Crime, and the Ethics of Retirement” by James Bell, June 2025
• "Revisiting the Attorney Surrogate Rule: A Proposal" by Greg Anderson, May 2025
• "Essential Steps to Take When Closing a Law Practice" by Joshua Lenon, May 2025
• "Well-Being in Retirement—Turn Off Autopilot" by Kevin McGoff and Loretta Oleksy, October 2024
• "The Big Shift: Moving from 'Have to' to 'Get to'" by Mike Tooley, September 2024
• “Succession Planning: Selling the Practice” by Don Hopper, June 2024
• “Retirement and Succession Planning: Protecting Your Firm and Clients’ Legal Interests in Times of Transition” by John Trimble, April 2024
• "Financially Planning for Retirement" by Kevin Alerding, January/February 2024
• “Planning for Retirement” by Ted A. Waggoner, December 2023
  
• “Pro Bono Publico License: Being of Service in Retirement” by Marilyn Smith and Judge Martha Blood Wentworth, March 2021
• “An Ethical Exit from the Practice of Law” by Donald R. Lundberg and Caitlin S. Schroeder, November 2017
• “Life Planning as Investment Planning: A Primer for Lawyers” by Derrick H. Wilson, January/February 2015
  
• “The Graying of the Legal Profession” by Donald R. Lundberg, October 2007
• “File, File, Who’s Got the File? Client Rights to Return of Property” by Donald R. Lundberg, September 2007

Books

• Find Your Landing Zone: Life Beyond the Bar by Kevin McGoff, 2023
  
• Second Acts for Solo and Small Firm Lawyers by Jennifer J. Rose, 2020
  
• Being Prepared: A Lawyer’s Guide for Dealing with Disability and Unexpected Events by Lloyd D. Cohen and Debre Hart Cohen, 2009
• How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free: Retirement Wisdom That You Won’t Get from Your Financial Advisor by Ernie J. Zelinski, 2009
• Estate Planning Strategies: A Lawyer’s Guide to Retirement and Lifetime Planning by Jay A. Soled, 2002

Additional Resources

Guides

• Indiana Attorney Surrogate Rule: Best Practices and Forms, 2010

Ethics Opinions

• Navigating a Lawyer’s Departure from a Law Firm, Indiana Disciplinary Commission, April 2025