Educating ‘seasoned’ lawyers about their options
Providing relevant and free CLE for senior attorneys, helping them find ways to mentor and stay active in the practice — including with pro bono — or helping them ease into their preferred retirement, if that’s their choice, occupied the Bar’s Senior Lawyers Committee at its recent meeting.
The committee, formed last year, followed its meeting with its first CLE program, which covered topics from health issues for senior lawyers to financial planning to how solo practitioners and lawyers in law firms can plan for their retirements.
Tallahassee attorney George Waas, who retired from the Florida Attorney General’s office a few years ago, said many older attorneys want to remain active but face obstacles, including no place to work.
“I am eligible to practice, but I am not currently practicing,” Waas said. “We know there are about 6,000 who are over 65 who are retired or inactive, but we don’t know how many thousands are in the category like I am. It is a significant number that should be reached out to.”
He said such lawyers could be especially valuable as the Bar seeks ways to increase pro bono and access to families who have trouble affording traditional legal services.
“It would seem to be a lot cheaper to provide a table or desk, a chair, and a computer and have volunteers using them in the office of legal aid or private firms,” Waas said.
Inactive lawyers can’t practice, he said, but they could still mentor or do research and otherwise assist law firms and agencies providing pro bono and low-cost services.
Committee Chair Jake Schickel said the committee can do a lot to educate “seasoned” lawyers about their options.
“We can inform our members on what they can do in terms of pro bono work and how to deal with the insurance and some of the other issues. . . this is what you can do and this is how to get coverage. If you do it under the auspices of the legal aid society, you’re covered by that agency,” he said. “If you’re an inactive lawyer, you can still mentor but you can’t practice law.”
Schickel said the committee might have answers by the time it meets in June at the Bar’s Annual Convention.
Committee member Sandy Myers said the committee can tell lawyers their options when they approach retirement.
“We need to alert people to look for a second life, something that interests them as they phase out their practice,” she said. “There are civic, religious, and charitable organizations that can use their help.”
Committee member Terry Bledsoe suggested that the committee explore a “senior lawyer” status — similar to a senior judge — which would be between an active and inactive membership.
“I think that’s perfect,” Schickel responded.
Members also discussed the need to provide convenient and free CLE for attorneys who wish to retain their active status, but may have a limited income because they are no longer practicing. Schickel noted the committee’s first CLE as an example.
It featured speakers on planning for firm succession for solo practitioners and those in firms, health factors affecting senior lawyers, liability insurance considerations when closing a practice, ethical considerations when leaving the practice, and personal finance planning for lawyers. There was also a panel that took questions from the audience.
Schickel noted the CLE was free and that it was being videotaped courtesy of Dustin Cole, president of Attorneys MasterClass. The video will be available for a time through the Bar and the committee’s webpage, and Cole said it will also be posted on attorneysmasterclass.com.
Schickel said he hopes the committee will put on several more free seminars.
Cole said he is working with the committee to help the website develop information and resources to help senior lawyers.
The committee hit a somber note when discussing how older lawyers can encounter disabilities affecting their ability to practice. One committee member noted a fellow attorney who spent 40 years building his practice and then suffered a stroke followed by a heart attack, which left him unable to keep up with his practice’s demands.
Committee members said that Bar rules require lawyers to designate an inventory attorney capable of returning files and closing out a practice if an attorney dies or becomes disabled. But they also said many times attorneys have not picked an inventory attorney, or if they have, the inventory attorney is not able to quickly or efficiently close the practice.
Members also noted that the Bar’s Law Office Assistance Management Service (now the Practice Resource Institute) has prepared an emergency checklist for lawyers in those situations, but added it needed more work.
Cole said he could post a checklist and other such emergency information on his site. He also said it’s part of the business side of a law practice where lawyers of any age frequently need help.
“Of the 10 most common malpractice and grievance complaints, eight don’t have anything to do with being a lawyer. It is organization, keeping an organized practice that does it right,” Cole said.
“One of the increased risks of senior attorneys is grievance and malpractice. What do you need to have in place if that inventory attorney has to walk in tomorrow?”
