Leaving a legacy

By Beverly Weise, President, Leadership Talent Solutions

For Linda, managing 200 litigators and a US$68 million budget was a walk in the park compared to the real life challenge she now faced: retirement. After 30 years of practising law, first in private practice and then as the managing deputy attorney-general, she was contemplating retirement.

For three consecutive years she quietly announced her intention to retire. For those three years she remained in her role, leading new change efforts, making contributions, mentoring younger attorneys, and moving the organization forwards.

When Linda retired from the attorney general’s office, she did so with great anticipation and excitement for the future. She was looking forward to this next stage in her life – with no regrets and no looking back.

What changed? She began to think about the many contributions she had made while at the attorney general’s office: taking a fractured division and pulling it together, building new systems and mentoring young litigators. She led the case management of high-profile cases that would have far-reaching effects on the citizens of her state. She helped her organisation to set up a litigation support system and completely revamped how public records were handled in the office. She led an effort that transformed the role of secretaries, legal assistants and paralegals, enriching not only their working lives but enhancing the effectiveness of the organisation.

Once she had taken stock of her accomplishments and was able to acknowledge the sincere accolades of her colleagues, she found she was able to ‘let go’. She could look back at a 30-year legal career with great pride in the legacy she had left to her organisation and profession. She concluded that one more case, project or change initiative would not substantively add to the body of work she had already left behind. She could move on.

Timing your retirement

Like Linda, 77 million other baby boomers in the US plan to retire in the next 5 to 15 years. For many, the timing of retirement will not be an easy one. For lawyers, after a lifetime of honing their craft and adding value to their firms, the decision of when to retire may be the toughest one they will face in their professional lives. They have enjoyed not only the monetary rewards reaped from a lifetime of hard work and dedication, but have also earned the trust, respect and friendship of colleagues and clients along the way. It’s a lot to walk away from.

So when is the right time to retire from practising law? When is it time to make room for the next generation of lawyers? At what point does an individual tackle the frightening, yet exhilarating question of how to spend the next stage of one’s life?

If you are like Linda, it is when your financial advisor says so and when you can leave feeling proud of the legacy you left behind.

Assessing your legacy

It is never too early to assess your professional legacy. Did you: 

• Make the contribution you had hoped to make?

• Make a difference in the lives of people with whom you worked?

• Help clients achieve their objectives?

• Mentor the next generation along the way?

• Leave the firm or organisation a better place than when you began?

 If you answered yes to these questions, you may be ready to retire. If not, it is not too late to get focused on building your professional legacy now. 

Being remembered

The timing of retirement can be a difficult issue, not only for a lawyer, but also for the managing partner of the firm. How do you tell a senior partner who has been with the firm for decades (and may even be a founding member) that it is time to retire and move on? How do you inform a long-time colleague that it seems like his heart isn’t in it anymore, that he are blocking the advancement of more junior partners, or that his compensation surpasses his current contribution to the firm?

It is a difficult conversation most managing partners would probably prefer to avoid. However, a positive, uplifting conversation could take place that may well result in individuals concluding they are ready to transition to retirement.

How do they want to be remembered? Ask them: 

• What stories would you want your colleagues to tell about you 10 years from now?

• What accomplishments are you most proud of?

• How did you make a difference in the lives of people at work?

• What was the greatest challenge you overcame?

• In what ways did you contribute to the profession or business of law?

• Who did you mentor along the way?

• How have you left the company or firm a better place than when you arrived?