Retire? Reset? Reinvent? – Planning for the Next Stage of Your Law Practice
The NCBA Professional Vitality Committee creates sourced articles centered on reducing inherent stress and enhancing vitality in the lives of legal professionals and offers those resources as a benefit for members of the North Carolina Bar Association.
A Dynamic New e-book for Planning for the Next Stage of Your Law Practice
“It’s a dangerous business . . . going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don’t keep your feet, there’s no knowing where you might be swept off to.” – Bilbo Baggins
This hopeful wisdom, uttered by J.R.R. Tolkien’s most notorious hobbit, is intended to encapsulate the mix of hope, trepidation, and opportunity that accompany the commencement of a new journey. But Mr. Baggins’ observation applies equally to new beginnings, generally, in which the prospect of change can be simultaneously invigorating and intimidating. The recently revised and retitled Retire? Reset? Reinvent? – Planning for the Next Stage of Your Law Practice, a publication of the NCBA Professional Vitality Committee, provides practical resources to aid lawyers who stand on the threshold of such transitions. Whether looking forward to a season of well-earned rest, taking on a different role within the profession, or trying an entirely different vocation, the e-book enables attorneys to prepare for and walk into the next stage in their lives with confidence that they have protected their clients, themselves and their families, and met their obligations to colleagues and the bar.
Building on the prior version of the e-book, originally titled Turning Out the Lights, the new publication addresses the ethical and practical issues that accompany various career transitions, such as selling or closing a law practice, taking a sabbatical or other extended leave, or accepting an “of counsel” role. It also provides guidance and resources for those who might be called upon to oversee the winding up of a practice following an unplanned transition, such as a lawyer’s unexpected death. Relevant Rules of Professional Conduct are discussed, and sample checklists, pleadings, orders, and correspondence are provided.
A generous grant from the North Carolina Bar Foundation has enabled publication of the e-book in electronic format. This makes the resource immediately accessible, free of charge, via the Bar Association website. The e-book contains useable hyperlinks and forms, making the sample material easy to download and use. The fully digitalized format facilitates periodic updates as well as further exploration of transition-related topics relevant to a broad spectrum of legal professionals at various career stages, not only senior lawyers.
It’s worth noting that when the ever-adventurous Bilbo Baggins shared his caution about the dangers of beginning a journey, he was preparing for a journey himself. He thought he was headed for a quiet retirement in Rivendell, a land of wisdom and culture. In fact, his time in Rivendell would prove not only to be richly enjoyable, but profoundly, creatively fruitful. Rather than spending the rest of his days passively in a lawn chair with his feet up, Bilbo’s “retirement” saw him flourish as a poet, songwriter, mentor, chronicler of history, and avid connoisseur of cuisine.
It was during his time in Rivendell that Mr. Baggins also famously wrote, “Not all who wander are lost.” Career transitions, while sometimes marked by uncertainty, also provide opportunities for growth and personal fulfillment. It is the hope of the Professional Vitality Committee that Retire? Reset? Reinvent? – Planning for the Next Stage of Your Law Practice will be a useful tool that encourages lawyers to “wander,” with hope and wonder, towards new horizons and adventures, with the knowledge that their planning and provisions will protect themselves and their families, as well as their clients, colleagues, and practices.
© 2021 North Carolina Bar Association
The preceding article was written and reviewed as part of the work of the NCBA Professional Vitality Committee (“PVC”). The authors were Jamie Dean, Committee Vice-Chair, Womble Bond Dickinson (US) LLP, Winston-Salem, N.C., and Bill Womble, Jr., Clearly Bespoke Strategies, Inc., Winston-Salem, N.C. Please direct comments and suggestions to Erna Womble, PVC Chair, and Holly Morris, Communities Manager. See more of the PVC’s compendium of articles and blog posts.
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