Aging Lawyers Often Lack the Business and Estate Planning They Urge on Clients
Lawyers routinely advise clients to develop an estate plan.
Yet they themselves often call to mind the “shoemaker’s children go barefoot” proverb, Pennsylvania Bar Association law practice management coordinator Ellen Freedman tells the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
She recalls a situation in which an older attorney who ran his own law office was on life support, and hence missing court hearings. A week of no-shows racked up before opposing counsel in one case called the bar association to express concern. Then, when Freedman found out what was going on and stepped in, there was no game plan about what needed to be done.
As baby boomers age and, especially given the economic difficulties of recent years, decide to keep working into their sixties and seventies, it’s important to think ahead and plan for such potential health issues, she pointed out.
“We have all these people in the race, they’re all coming to the finish line, and they haven’t given a thought about what’s going to happen when they get there,” she told the newspaper. “Or, what could happen if they drop before they even reach the line.”
