Succession planning at law firms, or lack of such planning, is an ongoing challenge for law firms in New Jersey and beyond, but many are taking steps to address it, and in some cases seeing results from those efforts.

“The folks who [build a] firm assume that they won’t get a visit from Father Time—Father Time is undefeated,” said Vito Gagliardi Jr. of Porzio, Bromberg & Newman in Morristown, whose firm implemented a succession plan several years ago and now is taking stock of the results. ”Just as folks have a hard time buying life insurance and filling out living wills, they have trouble giving up control because they can’t accept the impact of Father Time.”