The practice of law is an aging profession. The median age of a lawyer in this country has risen from 39 in 1980 to 49 in 2005.1 In 1980, 12 percent of all lawyers were between the ages of 55 and 64, while 15 percent of all lawyers were under the age of 29.2 By 2005, those numbers had changed dramatically, with 21 percent of lawyers between the ages of 55 and 64, and a meager 4 percent of lawyers below the age of 29.3 The American Bar Association predicts that over the next decade, approximately 400,000 attorneys nationwide will be at or above the retirement age.4
New York State has the highest number of attorneys in the nation—a whopping 172,630 lawyers according to the ABA.5 Given the aging lawyer population, it is likely that New York will also have the most retiring attorneys in the United States in the years to come.
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