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Business Law Today
Volume 16, Number 5 May/June 2007
Shining in the golden years
Making use of your legal skills after retirement
By Francesca Jarosz
It had been 30 years since Kenneth Fields even thought about his resume. That is until recently,
when the 61-year-old Arizona Superior Court judge, who is approaching retirement, started
sending it out in search of opportunities for his post-judicial career.
Fields doesn't want to kick back and play tennis now that his full-time courtroom days are coming
to a close. He's not sure what his plans are yet—possibilities range from working in international
criminal court to giving talks on courtroom electronic filing systems. But he has resolved one
thing: retirement doesn't mean he'll quit being productive.
"You have to do something to keep your mind going," Fields said. "There are a lot of interesting
things to do, places to see, people to meet. I view this as an adventure."
Some of his fellow lawyer retirees would agree. From the 70-somethings to the oldest baby
boomers, who turned 61 in January and are expected soon to retire in droves, many lawyers pass
up houses off the back nine for another go-around in pursuing a passion. As cultural gerontologist
Nancy Peppard put it, they're "too hyperactive to sit around and play golf."
Instead, they're doing new gigs—some more than full time. They're launching affordable housing
organizations and setting up networks for pro bono legal work in India. They're tutoring and
advocating minority employment in law firms.
"It's time to do something different," Fields said.
Today's ranks of productive retirees should expect company soon. Baby boomers—that 78-millionmember generation born between 1946 and 1964—will take some of their older cohorts' concept
of mid-life second winds and run with it, experts say.
Merrill Lynch's New Retirement Survey, released in February 2005, suggests the average baby
boomer will retire around 64 and start doing something new. Another study, done in May 2004 by
the American Association for Retired Persons, shows that 79 percent of boomers plan to work in
retirement and 51 percent plan to do volunteer work.
"Many boomers want to find the best resource of all for what's left of their lives, and that's time,"
said Leonard Steinhorn, a media and politics professor at American University in Washington and
author of The Greater Generation: In Defense of the Baby Boom Legacy. "They want to
remain relevant and remain engaged and active. That's been a hallmark of this generation from its
earliest days."
That may be particularly true among boomer lawyers, who went to law school during the 1960s
and 70s to "change the world," as some of them put it.
ABA President Karen Mathis, who has researched methods to help retiring lawyers remain
involved, found that on average each pre-retirement lawyer performs 79 hours of community
service a year, compared with 50 hours among Americans at large.
"That's a huge asset to do good if we can harness it," Mathis said.
A major outlet for retiring lawyers' energy is pro bono work. Esther Lardent, president of the Pro
Bono Institute at Georgetown University Law Center in Washington, said the ABA's 1994 Legal
Needs Study showed that 80 percent of people in need of legal help don't receive it.
"If we want people to use the legal system, we have to make it accessible," Lardent said. "We're
the only ones who can."
The number of public interest pro bono programs has gone from 50 in the mid-1970s to about
1,000 today, Lardent said, and business law has seen particular growth. Public interest lawyers
have seen the need for transactional skills, Lardent said, and there's also been an increase in
public interest programs at corporate legal departments.
"We're just overwhelmed by the response," Lardent said.
Still, challenges remain to fully tapping senior lawyers' energy reserve. Lardent said there should
be more pathways for connecting retired lawyers to outlets for their service. There's also the issue
of who provides retired lawyers with workspace and computers for their activities.
Those concerns are now being addressed. During her ABA presidency Mathis is launching an
initiative called the "Second Season of Service" to help lawyers transition from law practice to
productive post-career lives. Among the ideas is a directory system, similar to the online listing of
merchandise and services craigslist.org, that would connect lawyers with volunteer opportunities.
The New York-based International Senior Lawyers' Project (ISLP) does something similar by giving
senior lawyers chances to offer their legal skills abroad. ISLP's missions, such as providing legal
experience for human rights activists, helping transition totalitarian regimes to democratic
governments and moving countries' economies toward the Western model, are well-suited for
older lawyers, said Jean Berman, ISLP's executive director.
"People who have a lifetime of experience have a perspective that is broad and knowledge of their
own legal specialization that's deep and philosophical," Berman said.
Law firms also are becoming resources for aging lawyers. Marc Galanter, a former University of
Wisconsin law professor who in 1999 published an article on the older generation of lawyers in the
Wisconsin Law Review, said older lawyers are sometimes pushed out of firms, either because of
mandatory retirement age or the competition and pressure to bill hours.
Today, though, some firms are working to turn around the image that being old means being in
the way. Firms like Latham and Watkins allow senior lawyers to keep their offices as bases for
post-retirement endeavors. Others provide their retirees with post-career opportunities.
About five years ago, Mayer, Brown, Rowe and Maw started "Senior Tour," a program through
which retiring lawyers or those scaling back their practice can do pro bono work or help with
administrative or training aspects of the firm. Though the number of participants now only
fluctuates between five and 10, the idea is beginning to grow, said Marc Kadish, the firm's
director of pro bono activities and litigation training.
"We've just taken something that's kind of emerged and put a name to it," Kadish said. "If law
firms can figure out a way to capitalize on the willingness of lawyers to stay involved, pro bono
will benefit from it."
In the meantime, retirees like Fields are finding their own ways of staying involved. He said he's
searched the Internet to find opportunities. The task that remains is choosing what to do.
"I think I could have something to offer based on my experience," Fields said. "I don't want to
give up learning just because I'm retiring."
Second Season of Service
Are you a senior lawyer seeking to utilize your skills in a new and challenging environment?
The ABA Commission on Second Season of Service Web site at
www.abanet.org/secondseason can help you learn more on how to volunteer your services
to others. Second Season of Service represents the American Bar Association's recognition
that lawyers who are reaching the next stage of their careers do not have to leave the law
behind. The site supplies links to additional sources of information, and provides a statespecific search function for uncovering volunteer opportunities in your area.
Here are several other Web sites offering additional advice and opportunities:
• Take a look at the Senior Lawyers page of the ABA Standing Committee on Pro Bono
and Public Service at www.abanet.org/legalservices/probono/senior_lawyers.html. The
Committee recognizes that after spending many years perfecting their craft, senior lawyers
are in a perfect position to help chip away at the unmet legal needs of low-income persons
throughout this country. The site includes examples of existing senior lawyer pro bono
projects, setting up new projects and solutions to perceived barriers to such projects.
• You can also contact the Senior Attorney Volunteers for the Elderly (SAVE) Program,
Sponsored by AARP's Legal Counsel for the Elderly, the ABA Senior Lawyers Division, the
ABA Commission on Legal Problems for the Elderly and the ABA Center for Pro Bono.
Senior attorneys can help the elder poor with legal services by creating a local SAVE
program—a local network of senior attorney volunteers for the elderly. Visit
www.abanet.org/srlawyers/probono/home.shtml.
• The International Senior Lawyers Project (ISLP) provides a vehicle through which the
growing number of skilled and experienced senior attorneys at or near retirement can
provide volunteer legal services to the world community. ISLP seeks to advance democracy
and the rule of law, protect human rights and promote equitable economic development
worldwide. Visit www.islp.org for more information.
Jarosz is a senior at Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism in Evanston, Illinois.
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