Welcome to the Senior Lawyers Section for 2018-19. You may not remember signing up for this ISBA section. Because you didn’t. You are automatically a member if you are over the age of 55 or have practiced law in excess of 25 years. Many of our senior practitioners have served on or chaired multiple substantive law committees over their years of ISBA membership. Past President Irene Bahr created the Senior Lawyers Section Council to provide additional opportunities for our most experienced counselors to continue to share their knowledge, expertise, and ideas. And you are now a member.

The Senior Lawyers Section has approximately 10,400 members, slightly more than the 10,000 members of the Young Lawyers Division. I once chaired the YLD. We sponsored leadership conferences, began low cost Nuts and Bolts practice seminars, and weighed in on the issues of the day. We did not have many clients or much money, but we had a lot of fun. It seems like that was just yesterday. But somehow, apparently while I was not paying attention, 33 years passed by. I now find myself chair of the Senior Lawyers Section Council. It’s an accomplished and energetic collection of 20 middle-aged men and women (assuming an average life expectancy of 140), ready with ideas and ideals to keep the profession moving forward. And we still have a lot of fun.

As in past years, we anticipate sponsoring or cosponsoring multiple CLE programs, geared directly to the interests of our membership. Council members and past ISBA presidents O’Brien and Amari will be presenting a new edition on “Winding Down Your Practice.” This program touches on an extraordinarily complex range of topics, including tail insurance, file and record retention, and various sale of practice issues. This is a “must attend,” whether you are looking at retirement, slowing down, or just wintering in a warmer climate. Getting out is complicated.

In past years, Council member Don Mateer has done his best to assist some of us into the twenty first century technology world. Don put together hands-on, one day computer seminars for senior lawyers, held at the College of DuPage. The initial success of “How Do You Turn This Thing On“ was followed last year by “Basics and Beyond.“ Since each attendee is at his/her own terminal, the instructors are able to take into account individual skill levels in making their presentations. We will look at last year‘s reviews and suggestions to put together next spring’s program. Watch your ISBA announcements for a time and place. Remember, your grandchildren will not always be there to help.

The Senior Lawyers Section Council typically publishes three newsletters per year, focused on topics of interest to our unique membership. Recent articles included listings of CLE programs relevant to senior lawyers, security planning for your electronics, and succession planning. Please feel free to submit your own unpublished article on any topic of interest to senior lawyers.

Stay connected. Our section website is at ISBA-Seniorlawyers@connectedcommunity.com. Give us your thoughts and comments on existing programs or newsletter articles. Submit an article. Send along ideas for future seminars or programs. Let’s make this another fun year.