Do Not Go Gentle: Plan Now for Retirement, but Don’t Jump the Gun

That blissful time when you can golf, catch up on your reading, and pursue neglected hobbies might be a few years away yet, but now is the time to plan for it.

From a business perspective, it’s important to think about retirement in advance, in order to recruit, train and mentor replacement lawyers, and to integrate them to work with your longstanding clients. If you are receiving a buyout, your firm may also require some time to plan for both the loss of your income and payment to you following your departure.

For some lawyers, it may be best to transition into part-time work first, both to allow other lawyers a higher degree of responsibility in your absence, and to give you an opportunity to ease gently from full-time work to leisure pursuits. Those who stop working abruptly often find it a shock to their system. Allow yourself some time to develop other interests while still maintaining a connection with the profession that has been your life.

There are many ways to slow down without closing up shop altogether, according to Carl Jonsson, Chair of the CBA Senior Lawyers Section in British Columbia. “A few lawyers I know have left the downtown and gone to a suburban office,” finding it less expensive and a slower pace of work, he says. “Another lawyer semi-retired to one of the islands out here and flew in by helicopter to work three days a week.”

Sometimes, lawyers retire too early. Vancouver lawyer David Huberman has made two forays into retirement, but both times says he found it boring and isolating. He says his first retirement was impulsive, after completing a large corporate deal that took several days of round-the-clock work. “I took off my tie and said ‘That’s it,’” he recalls.

But it was difficult to adjust to the loss of camaraderie and having to make appointments for lunch just to see friends. After several months he had had enough, and accepted an offer to work on the creation of a film company. After working on that project for two years, taking it from concept to publicly traded company, he felt he was again ready for retirement, but again found it stultifying. When an opportunity to work came his way, he took it. Huberman now works as the lead director of a mining company, which he finds fascinating and which allows him to use his corporate legal experience in different ways.

Whether you decide to change jobs, work part-time, or retire fully, advance planning is the key to a successful and satisfying transition.

Neither the author nor the CBA should be construed as endorsing any product or website listed in this article. The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the CBA.
In this document, any reference to "jurist" or "lawyer" includes, where appropriate, "Québec notary".