...and life after the practice of law

 By Christine Murray

Arnold “Arny” Murray Abramson graduated from the University of British Columbia with a Bachelor of Laws in 1968 (being awarded the gold medal from the Law Society), articled in Vancouver with Bourne, Lyall, Shier, Davenport and Spencer, and was called to the Bar in British Columbia in 1969. After a career of more than 40 years as a practising lawyer, which included partnership at Davis and Company (now Davis LLP) and working as legal counsel at the Legal Services Department of BC Hydro for the last 10 years, Arny retired in 2010. Arny remains active in the community serving as a director and officer of the Hillel Endowment Foundation, of the Jewish Home for the Aged of British Columbia, operating as the Louis Brier Home and Hospital, and as a director of the Louis Brier Jewish Residence Society. Arny has taken some time to answer questions about planning for retirement and life after the practice of law. 

Q: Has life slowed down since retirement? How have you been keeping busy?
Life has not really slowed down since I retired. I often used to hear my retired friends telling me that they did not know how they had time to work before they retired. I often feel the same way. 

After I retired, my wife Carole and I went on a 40-day cruise around South America. Shortly after we returned home, I finally got to adopt a seven-week-old Rhodesian Ridgeback puppy. I have taken a course in photography to learn how to use my digital camera more effectively and how to “edit” my photos.

Q: Is there anything that surprised you about retirement?
I was surprised to learn that the commonly held belief that you need less to live on after retirement than you did while working is not true, at least not for my wife and me. It is true that I probably spend less on clothes, lunches and driving to and from work, but I am certainly spending about the same amount every month as I was before. 

Q: What do you miss the most about practising law?
Probably I miss working with people and offering advice and help more than anything else. I have become active on a few boards the last few years, so that has helped. Also, I meet one of my former colleagues at BC Hydro Legal occasionally for lunch and that is nice. Lastly, I did remain on a BC Hydro corporate committee, which meets about four times a year, so I still get the opportunity to interact with business people and go downtown.

Q: How did you deal with your files and ongoing work leading up to retirement?
That was the easiest thing to deal with. Those that were not finished were distributed to various other lawyers in the department. I passed the files on before I left and explained the status of each to the lucky recipients.

Q: Are there still files from your practice that keep you up at night?
In no way!

Q: What advice do you have for lawyers who are starting to plan for retirement (in their twenties and thirties)?
Max out their RRSP contributions and their TFSA contributions. Have other interests than the law so you can keep busy. Get up early in the morning once you retire and keep busy.

Q: Finally, what is your favourite quote?
“The moving finger writes; and, having writ, moves on.” – I have liked it for many years.

Family Lawyer Christine Murray practises at Berge Hart Cassels LLP.

This article was published in the October 2011 issue of BarTalk. © 2011 The Canadian Bar Association. All rights reserved.