Sometimes you need a helping hand

Lawyers have a lot in common with doctors. We have a lot in common with
auto mechanics, too. In all three professions you can find general
practitioners, and others who concentrate on a specific area in
interest. It's important to know which to call when you go looking for
help.

Maybe you have a sore elbow, or need the oil changed in your SUV before
going on vacation. In those cases, the general practitioner is probably
all you need. But when your heart needs attention, it's in your best
interest to see someone who spends a bit more time focused on the health
and wellness of the heart. Along those same lines, you probably wouldn't
feel comfortable bringing your car in for a tune-up, if your car was a
vintage Corvette, and the mechanic's workspace was situated in a shady
spot under a big maple tree.

There are times when you need someone who has chosen to concentrate
mores intensely on one or two specific areas of their profession. It's
the natural choice under certain circumstances.

Occasionally, I have been asked how it is that I came to focus on such a
unique segment of the law. It's a good question, so I have always been
proud to answer it with a short story. The truth is I am fortunate
enough to come from a family with very good genes. We seem to live a
long time. Especially the women in my family. As an example I can point
to my grandmother and her sisters. Of the five sisters, three lived into
their 90s. They were active and vibrant through almost their entire
lives, too. My grandmother lived to be 100 years old, which is a
remarkable milestone in anyone's book.

As the only lawyer in the family, I was often called on to provide
advice, review a contract, or explain some esoteric aspect of the law to
a brother, or a sister, or my parents. These requests were no more
frequent from my aunts or my grandmother than they were from any other
member of my family, but it became apparent to me that the importance of
obtaining good legal advice actually becomes more important as we age.

If you're 25 years old and you make a significant financial mistake, you
have decades of your working life ahead of you. The odds are good that
you can overcome that mistake, and learn from it. On the other hand, if
you're 75 years old it's likely that your mistakes will have a far more
profound impact on the quality of your lifestyle during retirement.
Those mistakes may even cause you to lose control of property or assets
that you had hoped to keep.

I picked the areas of the law I would pursue most passionately based on
the simple fact that I experienced the importance of solid legal
representation as we reach our golden years, right in my own family.
Those experiences made an impression on me that I have never forgotten.
And so I chose to practice in the less common areas of Living Trusts,
Probate, and Elder Law. A choice that I have never regretted.

Of course, just as the oncologist can clean a wound and put on a
bandage, my primary focus does not prevent me from helping my clients in
areas other areas of the law. However, I have found that my experience
in those unique areas has given a number of my clients a sense of
security at a time in their lives when security was particularly
important.

I'm proud of that. I'm proud of my grandmother and her sisters, too. So
feel free to ask about them some time. I would be happy to share a story
or two about some pretty remarkable women who helped to mold me into the
woman, and the lawyer, I am today.