[blindlaw] Bar Journal article that bears note

[Ross Doerr]

The article below was lifted in whole from the New Hampshire Bar journal.
I would repeat to you what was pointed out to me by a colleague who herself
is an attorney with a disability - she noted that when an attorney has a
disability it isn't at all uncommon for such an attorney to spend a
significant portion of their "productive years" seeking employment in leu of
building a nestegg. So, this article begs an ethical quandry for the bar
association of all states - thos who find themselves at or near retirement
age may not have the option to retire in any realistic financial sense.
 On one hand, retirement age is being pushed back to later years. On another
hand the bar is shrinking. On yet another hand those who are ready, willing
and able to work cannot find employment. And on yet another hand the cost of
being retired is out of control (in spite of what Washington may say).
I for one have spent my entire legal career in the nonprofit field of
disability law. It has been very rewarding and I feel that I helped those
who truly needed legal assistance.  
Having said that, one must note some harsh reality. I have never been able
to get into either a private firm or a government office. Nonprofit work
simply does not pay as well as private or governmental work does, and that
includes the benefits package with that all important health care coverage
component for retirement. Most nonprofit offices tend to have "bikini
benefits" (barely there) for their employees. I have lost count of how many
times I heard it said at meetings that we are there on the side of the
angels, so that is why we don't get benefits like other law ofices do. One
office I worked in with 8 lawyers in it was repeatedly reminded that "we are
not a law office".
Right. Try that one in front of a professional conduct committee. 
So, whether you agree or disagree with others who echo what I've said
herein, I strongly suggest that you read through the below NH Bar Journal
article, because it will very probably be coming to a Bar Association near
you soon.
Ross A. Doerr Esq.
***
Bar News - April 19, 2013
The Gray Area: Aging Bar Brings Cognition Concerns
By: Kristen Senz
With nearly one-third of New Hampshire Bar members over 60 years old, the
aging of lawyers in the state is presenting both practical and psychological
challenges for all members of the Bar. 
NH Bar President Larry Vogelman talks about a program at the June 21 Annual
Meeting that will address the issue in his column. 
Examining the demographics of the membership and the issues raised by the
so-called "graying of the bar" is the goal of this Bar News series. 
The number of attorneys in New Hampshire at or close to retirement age is
growing rapidly. Meanwhile, the proportion of Bar members in their prime
working years of 41 to 50 has shrunk, and fewer young people are entering
the profession. 
The NH Bar membership is turning gray, a trend that is expected to continue
for the next 15 years, as Baby Boomers age, the job market slowly recovers
and the economy pushes retirement to later in life.
Since 1998, the total number of bar members age 61 and older has increased
22 percent, and the number of members between ages 41 and 50 has decreased
from 36 percent to 24 percent.
In addition to following national trends, this is a regional phenomenon. The
Northern New England states of Maine, Vermont and New Hampshire are all in
the top 10 states in the US with the highest median ages for the overall
population. This geographic concentration of older people, and older
lawyers, is largely due to a massive migration to Northern New England by
Baby Boomers in the 1990s.

*NH Bar membership data as of April 5, 2013.  
This aging of the bar presents a number of new challenges, including
concerns over a loss of institutional knowledge and experience. But some of
the most pressing issues involve older attorneys suffering from age-related
cognitive impairments that impact their ability to practice law.
In 2007, Supreme Court Rule 58 created the New Hampshire Lawyers Assistance
Program (LAPNH) to provide "confidential, meaningful assistance to lawyers,
judges, law students and their families in coping with alcoholism and other
addictions, depression, and other personal or professional crises."
Increasingly, those "other personal or professional crises" have come to
include situations in which colleagues and family members realize that a
practicing attorney has been practicing too long. 
LAPNH Executive Director Cecie Hartigan said with each passing year, she is
hearing about more situations involving aging issues. These types of calls
to LAPNH (877-224-6060) often result in "labor-intensive" crisis
interventions where she works with family members, colleagues and the
practicing attorney. It's usually unpleasant for everyone involved, but it's
important, to protect the interests of the public and the integrity and
reputation of the attorney, and in some cases, his or her firm. 
"The cases are very difficult," Hartigan said. "No one wants to be a lawyer
in the position of having to defend themselves." 
Concerns over health care confidentiality often make the process even more
complicated, Hartigan has found. 
"Getting family members involved is good, but that has to be done in the
confines of confidentiality," she said. "These are the intricacies of it
that experience teaches us. We're learning what roadblocks to expect and how
to preserve the interest of the public and the interests of the practicing
attorney." 
The complexity of weighing the public interest, the Rules of Professional
Conduct, personal relationships and an aging attorney's "reserve
functioning" - a term used to describe the ability to at times continue
high-level processing while overall cognitive abilities remain impaired -
creates a number of ethical quandaries for aging attorneys and their
colleagues. An article in the May issue of Bar News will address these
ethical issues in more depth. 
Hartigan says one approach to consider would be changing ethical rules to
make it easier for colleagues to report concerns about an attorney's
potential impairment without immediately bringing it into the disciplinary
process. Maine, among other states, recently took this step, she said. 

Dr. Doris Gundersen, a Colorado psychiatrist and member of the Colorado
Attorney Regulatory Committee, is scheduled to make a presentation during
the morning CLE session at the NH Bar Association Annual Meeting on June
21-22 in Portsmouth. She will also be part of a related panel discussion.
The session is designed to give attorneys practical tips for dealing with
the complicated and often emotional issues that arise as lawyers near the
end of their careers.