There's More to Winding Down Than Turning Off the Lights

The only hair I have remaining has turned from grey to white. I tried giving up drinking in the hope that I would feel better in the morning. Now I can’t blame a hangover for the fact that I hurt somewhere when I wake up every day, but I still do. I have had to replace most of my doctors with younger folks. I find myself asking much younger lawyers if they remember when something or other happened, and then realizing that it probably happened before they were born. In other words, I have much less to live than I have lived. And I’m not alone.

A lot has been written about us Baby Boomers and the havoc we are going to wreak on society when we lurch into retirement. Lawyers are no different from other professionals except that it seems that fewer of us have prepared for the inevitable. As a result, I and my colleagues who tend to the problems of the profession spend a lot of time counselling on the issues related to easing out of practice and into the next act.