A mandatory retirement age is an artificial limit placed on experienced employees in the workplace and amounts to age discrimination. Congress, in passing the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, indicated that its intention, in part, was to prevent an employer from requiring or permiting involuntary retirement of an employee within the protected age group.
Many organizations, including law firms have mandatory retirement ages for employees, but what these organizations do not realize is that they are harming themselves by forcing out the most experienced individuals for no reason other than their age. The decision about when to retire should most certainly not be made for you by your employer.
Thankfully, advances in modern medicine have enabled us to remain active longer and, therefore, remain part of the workforce. The laws against age discrimination support this as well.