Way back in 1997, my firm had an existential crisis when our three largest rainmakers decided to ditch private practice to chase the really big money. And of course, they all wanted their capital back. At the same time.
So, brilliant lawyer that I was, after surviving that crisis I revised our partnership agreement to limit the amount of capital that the firm could be required to pay out in any one year.
This is Part Four of my series on retiring from the legal profession. In the first three parts, I did not even mention “the Number.”
We all know what the Number is. That is the amount of investments that you supposedly require so that you can retire.
I spent many years waiting to finally hit the Number and be able to retire. I asked my friends about their Number. I read articles about getting to the Number. I spoke to my financial advisor about getting me to the Number. I pondered the impact of my lifestyle on achieving the Number. I obsessed about what the right Number was and when, if ever, I was going to get there.
In Part One, I told you to figure out what you want your retirement to look like. In Part Two I advised you to get to know yourself.
This time, a cautionary note. You need to figure out if you really want to retire or whether you are just burned out.
In Part One of my series on retirement, I defined retirement as being “when you are doing exactly what you want to be doing,” and I wrote about needing to figure out what exactly what that is. In order to do that, you need to know yourself. For some of us that is easy. For others, not so much.
I was speaking to a recent retiree from a Canadian Big Law firm the other day, and she introduced a new law firm concept to me, being that of the “Practice Assistant.” Apparently at her firm they did away with the concept of Legal Assistants (formerly, a “secretary” for you very old folks) and replaced it with a Practice Assistant, or “PA.”
Let’s talk about deadlines. Here are two quotes to get us started:
From Douglas Adams, we give you the light-hearted Associate’s perspective: “I love deadlines. I love the whooshing noise they make as they go by.”
Don’t let that lull you into a false sense of security, because the truth comes from Amit Kalantri, who said: “A professional who doesn’t deliver as committed is not just lazy, he is a liar.”
Early in my articles, a senior partner named David asked me to draft a document and gave me a precedent to use. David approved my draft but asked me to show it to Bob, a more junior partner. Bob told me that I had left out an important clause and asked me if David had approved my drafting. When I assured him that David had thought the draft was fine, Bob rolled his eyes and I understood that Bob did not hold David in high regard.
Whoever Dies With The Most Stuff Wins
–David Mitchell
The other day someone asked me why so many lawyers work excessive hours on the road to mental and physical health issues, divorce, and addiction.
The answer is simple. It is greed.
A junior Associate at a law firm called me the other day to complain. There is nothing unusual about that. Associates complain a lot, often with good reason.
Her complaint this time was that she told H.R. that she needed to take a day off for a personal reason and was informed that she had only two choices. She could take the day as vacation or unpaid.
“Leadership is a two-way street, loyalty up and loyalty down.”
Grace Murray Hopper
I thought that it might be fun to test my skills as a writer, by writing about two things that have virtually nothing to do with each other. I considered writing about mosquitos and energy drinks, flags and ostriches, or trees and jet skis. But I wanted to find things that are irreconcilable, regardless of any possible context. After much thought, I hit upon “loyalty” and “law firms.”