Partnership Retirement Age: 65 And Out!

This summer saw the end of the long drawn out litigation brought by Leslie Seldon, a former partner of law firm Clarkson, Wright & Jakes, against his former firm that its mandatory retirement age of 65 was age discriminatory.  An Employment Tribunal found that Clarkson, Wright & Jakes' mandatory retirement age of 65 was a proportionate means of achieving the legitimate aims of work force planning and staff retention and therefore did not amount to direct age discrimination.

Unlike the other strands of direct discrimination, direct age discrimination can be objectively justified if it can be shown to be a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim.  The regulations covering age discrimination at the time of Mr Seldon's "retirement" allowed employers to retire employees at the default retirement age of 65. However, this was not applicable to partners in respect of whom there was no default retirement age.  This provision has subsequently been repealed in meaning