Law Practice Management
| Citation | Vol. 46 No. 4 Pg. 38 |
| Publication year | 2023 |
| Pages | 38 |
Mark Bassingthwaighte
Mark Bassingthwaighte has been a Risk Manager with ALPS since 1998.
Since the Aging Process Never Stops, the Day Will Come When...
In the middle of a conversation with one of our insureds on the topic of the difficulty of learning to say no, the fine gentleman I was conversing with did a jump shift on me. For whatever reason, he felt it was important to acknowledge that he was cognizant of his age and he wanted me to know he had taken steps to make sure he continues to practice law competently. What really struck me, however, was his desire to also share he had instructed others at his firm to let him know if they were to ever see him start to mentally slip, because in his words "the day will come when..."
As a risk manager, I found his comments reassuring. In my mind, he's one I would describe as someone who is growing old gracefully. He's
Be aware of your limitations as they arise and be open to hearing the concerns of others. Find ways to identify your specific risks and work to responsibly address them. I say this because I have had to sit down with a few solos over the years and be the one who had to tell them their time had come. Trust me, aging gracefully is the better choice.
not in denial and, unlike far too many, he doesn't appear to be fighting the aging process tooth and nail. He also has recognized that with age comes certain age-related risks and he's doing something about that reality. In light of this conversation, I felt compelled to take a look at a few of these risks and talk about how to responsibly manage them.
The most obvious risk with the aging process is the unexpected event, something along the lines of a medical crisis that leads to a short or longterm absence. Should this ever occur, someone will need to step in and at least temporarily accept responsibility for your client matters, even if you aren't in a solo practice. For the solo practitioner, however, this is a particularly significant issue that underscores the necessity of having a backup attorney in place. Regardless of your age, if you haven't already found one, now's the time.
Next, don't overlook the related file status problem. Lawyers don't always keep files as current as they should. I believe for many it's a time and trust thing. There's never enough time and just about everyone trusts their own memory. Here's the problem...
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