Legal Marketing & PR

The Red Zone of Your Career

By Edward Poll, J.D., M.B.A., CMC

Karen Mathis, immediate past chair of the American Bar Association, focused her year on developing a new awareness for the legal profession. She said recently that 400,000 lawyers will retire in the next 10 years.  That’s the entire current membership of the ABA!

What will these lawyers do? Will they close their doors and start new careers? Will they sell their practices? Will they become sole or small firm practitioners because their current firm has a mandatory retirement age, some as young as 62 years of age? Will they be “warehoused,” and merely wait to die?

Karen was perceptive to suggest that the “Second Season” is an important issue that needs to be addressed both by our profession as well as our society in general.  We’re currently experiencing a multi-generational workforce, something not seen before.

As with many concepts, it’s important that the individual take responsibility for his/her own future welfare. Looking out at least 5 years to prepare for what you will be doing when it is time for you to slow down or even leave the practice of law is essential for your very well-being. These 5 years may be the “Red Zone” of your career. What will you be doing to prepare yourself so that you can score a touchdown, so you can spend the final years of your life enjoying the fruits of your labor as you choose?

Full post as published by Law Biz Blog on February 19, 2008 (boomark / email).