“We are not now that strength which in old days
Moved earth and heaven, that which we are, we are;
One equal temper of heroic hearts
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.”
Those who know me know that I have a great appreciation for Tennyson’s work, especially for Ulysses. Context matters and in the poem Ulysses is setting out to go on one last great adventure realizing that as he got older he isn’t what he once was.
To me, the key line in this passage is “… made weak by time and fate, but strong in will…” For me, the takeaway here is that as we age we are all made weaker by time and fate. The natural aging process tends to grind us to the point that we are not now that which we once were.
Fate always plays a roll in our lives. From our birth through our lives we are all beset by random events. Some are positive: you meet your soulmate, you find your true calling and live a life fulfilled, you win the multi million dollar jackpot. Some are negative: the unexpected death of a loved one, losing a life’s savings due to unforeseen events beyond your control, being struck by a sometimes debilitating illness.
Bottom line here is that no matter how strong your will, at some point time and fate will trump it. If we’re lucky enough to have lived long enough, we know the essential truth of the preceding sentence.
In my case, my will remains strong. I still have a desire to be of service. I still want to contribute to issues I think vital. I still want to research and write another book.
Unfortunately, due to random fate, I can no longer be a lawyer. Over the past three years, I have developed a condition that makes me susceptible to periodic bouts of pneumonia. Put more starkly, I have had thirteen bouts of pneumonia in just over the past three years. To put it in even starker relief, I’ve had two bouts from early October to just prior to Christmas.
So far I have been able to continue to work as an active attorney. But during these past bouts I began to think about whether I would continue to provide the same level of service to clients, and whether under these conditions I wanted to be an active attorney.
When I insert the factor of whether it was fair to clients, my answer is no. It hasn’t occurred yet but it’s certainly foreseeable that I could miss an important deadline or not be as responsive or precise as clients have a right to expect from their attorney. And to be frank, did I want to spend my days, which I assume are many, battling infections while meeting the very important needs of clients?
Taking all into consideration I have concluded that within the next six to eight months, earlier if I can swing it, I intend to retire from the active practice of law. I have several cases to close out, mostly transactional in nature and am committed to seeing them to completion.
I’m not exactly sure the precise procedures required by the Bar and Judiciary to effect a retirement but if it’s consistent with many other states, a public statement is involved. I’ll provide a more specific date once my situation becomes clear but early to mid summer reasonable.
So if I’m doing something for someone reading this, rest easy and we’ll see it through to completion. If you’re not on my active client list I am taking no new matters or clients. Letters will be mailed to all.
On a personal note, I am one of the luckiest person I know, not Powerball jackpot wining lucky (but then I don’t know anyone like that) but really lucky. I had and continue to have great family support no matter to what windmill I tilt. And I’ve enjoyed two professions, one was teaching high school kids about history, economics, and government. And these decades later I am still amazed by the continuing relationships with former colleagues as well as from several students who have really grown into being remarkable people.
The second was practicing law, a profession that permitted me the opportunity to serve those who live at the margins of our society, or as LBJ once decribed those margins, “the outskirts of hope.” Recently I had occasion to speak with RICLAPP’s former landlord about people who visit and call her office looking for us. Some were people we had previously served, others were first timers looking for us. All were people in need of legal services with nowhere else to turn. Over the coming weeks and months I’ll have more to say about the sorry state of affairs meeting the needs of the poor and near poor who are priced out of the legal market.
Maybe the first issue I’ll raise will be Rhode Island’s Access To Justice Commission, or rather why we don’t have one? Since 2015 I’ve raised this question only to receive no response.
But one thing forming and working at RICLAPP gave me was the appreciation for all the really great people, legal and non legal people, who want to serve and make life more gentle for people in need. I am proud that call each of them my friend. To those people I can only, as inadequate as this sounds, say “thank you.”
Thus is my announcement. Because I have to some degree been weakened by time and fate, an imminent end; but because of strong will, a newer path to travel. Life is one hell of an adventure!
Comments