It has been a productive and exciting week in San Francisco at the ABA meeting. The first official function I attended upon my arrival was a panel presentation on the "Second Season of Service", an initiative introduced by then President Karen Mathis last August to help lawyers across the country transition from their full time practice into enhanced community and pro bono service.
Chief Judge Judith Kaye has been leading the "Second Season of Service" Commission during its inaugural year and moderated a panel on August 9th at the Moscone Center. Like our own Senior Lawyers Committee (chaired by past NYSBA President, Justin Vigdor), Committee on Age Discrimination in the Profession (now chaired by Jay Waks) and Committee on Lawyers in Transition (chaired by Lauren Wachtler), the Second Season of Service Commission has looked at law firm retirement policies, identified best practices for lawyers transitioning out of full time practice, as well as opportunities for pro bono and community service.
Check out the ABA's new second season of service website here. It offers many valuable resources including a link to the NYSBA report with regard to age-based retirement practices, discussion boards, frequently asked questions, as well as a database of pro bono and public service opportunities.
Judge Kaye led a superb panel presentation, closing with a poem by Marge Piercy called "To Be of Use", which you can view at this web site.
The following day we had an opportunity to honor one of our profession's most dedicated. Dennis Baldwin from Syracuse was honored by the ABA Senior Lawyers' Division (now chaired by our own Walter Burke) for their prestigious Pro Bono Award. All of "Denny's Girls", including his wife Gail, daughter in law Kathryn, Judge Kaye, former President Catherine Richardson, Bernice Leber, Pat Bucklin, Sharon Gerstman, myself and his many other fans and family members (let us not forget "the guys", like Tony Palermo, Seth Rosner and Bob Ostertag, were there to bask in Denny's reflected glory. Denny is a genuine inspiration to us all.
I'll have more on the ABA Annual meeting, so stay tuned.