A recent New Jersey Law Journal article on “Dementia Dilemma” posed serious questions affecting members of the bar. As baby boomers, including that generation of attorneys, reach their mid- to late 70s, more will start showing symptoms of dementia. This may be the ravages of Alzheimer’s or the senile dementia often associated with the normal aging process. The symptoms may be relatively sudden, or may encroach slowly so that the day-to-day differences are not noticeable to the individual, but over time become apparent to family, colleagues and friends. Wrong words may regularly slip into communications, research may become too onerous, emotional changes might abound, and logical analysis could become fuzzy. When is it “ enough?” When must a firm take action or at least investigate? Who tells the honored oldster that it is time to step down?

There is, of course, natural forgetfulness or bad days suffered by even young attorneys, but at some point the good days become rarer. The article notes the fear of age discrimination lawsuits, and the need of possible help from groups such as a Texas Task Force on Aging Lawyer Issues. Oregon, Indiana, and North Carolina have similar programs. Medical assessment of cognitive issues can provide some objective data. Firms can put a provision into their terms of employment requiring that, in the event of a perceived impairment, the attorney would be required to have such an assessment and abide by medical recommendations as a condition of continued employment.

This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.

To view this content, please continue to their sites.

Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now

Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now

Why am I seeing this?

LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law are third party online distributors of the broad collection of current and archived versions of ALM's legal news publications. LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law customers are able to access and use ALM's content, including content from the National Law Journal, The American Lawyer, Legaltech News, The New York Law Journal, and Corporate Counsel, as well as other sources of legal information.

For questions call 1-877-256-2472 or contact us at [email protected]