{"id":10377,"date":"2008-12-09T12:42:45","date_gmt":"2008-12-09T17:42:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.law.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/?p=10377"},"modified":"2011-08-05T14:53:14","modified_gmt":"2011-08-05T18:53:14","slug":"boomer-birthday-be-musing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/2008\/12\/09\/boomer-birthday-be-musing\/","title":{"rendered":"boomer birthday be-musing"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a> ..<\/p>\n

poem<\/em>: David Giacalone
\nphoto<\/em>: Mama G.\u00a0 (Dec. 9, 1950)
\n– haiga orig. posted at MagnapoetsJF<\/em><\/a> weblog
\n“mom’s arthritis” – Roadrunner<\/em> (Nov. 2005)<\/p>\n

Affectionate Birthday Greetings <\/em><\/strong>to Mama G. (Connie, 82 yesterday), and to Brother G. (Arthur, 59 today).\u00a0 Long before they provided photos for dagosan<\/em>‘s haiga, my mother and twin brother obviously played large roles in forming — for better or worse — the person I have become.\u00a0 We also share a genetic heritage that seems more pressing now than it did back in my youth. Therefore, as I begin my 60th year (and, especially since I’m known both for sounding the alarm over the Graying<\/a> of the Legal Profession and for trumpeting the broadened horizons that come with appreciating the haiku moment<\/a>), it would be most appropriate to ponder how nature and nurture have prepared me for my remaining time on this planet.<\/p>\n

\"\" H<\/em>owever, with my body and brain definitely feeling their age this morning, my credentials as Nap Room advocate<\/a> and overall napping expert<\/a> seem more pertinent and pressing than any pretensions as pundit or poet.\u00a0 That little voice in my head, which has done so much to sharpen my procrastination skills over he past six decades, is telling me I’d be nuts to work any harder than necessary on my birthday.\u00a0 Therefore, I’m merely going to point you to a couple articles that ask questions and try to provide answers to the question “am I too old to be doing this?”<\/p>\n

\n

\"\" .. \"\"<\/a> ..<\/strong><\/em> “In My 60 Years<\/a>“ is <\/em>Jacob A. Stein’s Legal Spectator<\/em><\/strong> column this month in the D.C. Bar’s Washington Lawyer<\/em> magazine (Dec. 2008): The dean of lawyer pundits says:<\/p>\n

Well, October marked my 60th year of practice, and I think I have earned the prescriptive right to stand up and declare, \u201cIn my 60 years of practice, \u2026\u201d for whatever effect it may have. However, I have yet to do so.<\/em><\/p>\n

I was speaking with a friend who also is a member of the 60-year club. We questioned whether age denies us what it takes to read documents, court rules, fine print, and appellate opinions that run more than 10 pages. Do we still have that vigor of mind?<\/em><\/p>\n

“Do we still have that vigor of mind?<\/em>” is certainly the question.\u00a0 In their more candid moments, quite a few of my Baby Boomer friends have admitted that they’ve seen a diminution of that mental vigor (not to mention the physical variety).\u00a0 Stein’s column seems to wander more than usual, and we see that he is unhappy with the mindset that “gradually moved the practice of law into the culture of the marketplace.”\u00a0 I know quite a few small-law practitioners who will get a warm glow from this observation from Jacob Stein:<\/p>\n

“There continues to be a thriving practice that is separate from the marketplace. It is made up of lawyers who vindicate the constitutional rights of people, lawyers in small firms who practice in the counties surrounding the big cities, and specialty lawyers in domestic relations, personnel matters, and probate matters. However, it is the marketplace firms that define the big-time practice.”<\/p>\n

After 60 years of practice, the only personal platitude for lawyering that he leaves us with is: “you must make your own mistakes and you must learn your own limitations.”\u00a0 He ends with a few more maxims that “may also work for you,” including:<\/p>\n