From the chair

“Winding down” is always a topic of interest to Senior Lawyer Section members. If you’re a section member because you just turned 55, winding down may just require a 5:30 martini. But if you’re closer to the 70-75 age group, winding down takes on an altogether different meaning.

In our November newsletter, Richard Goodwin presented us with Death, Disability, Disappearance or Disbarment. The article thoroughly summarized an ABA webinar from 7/11/18, focusing on the voluntary or involuntary closing of a law practice. Goodwin practiced in Maryland and D.C. The ABA presenters were from Michigan, Ohio, and Indiana. Would you like to hear the Illinois take on the subject? We thought so.

On April 11, 2019, the Senior Lawyer Section Council will present an updated half-day program, “Winding Down the Practice.” Former ISBA presidents Leonard Amari and John O’Brien will moderate the program. Speakers will focus on tail insurance, notice requirements, records/file disposition, etc. What does the ISBA Mutual offer for tail insurance? What does the ARDC look at in regard to the proper disposition of files? What are the Supreme Court Rules relating to the sale of a practice? See you in April.

In the following month, on May 15, 2019, our section council will again present an updated presentation on computer basics for sniors. Don Mateer again chairs the program. However, the program is moving from the College of DuPage to Illinois State University in Bloomington, Illinois. I guess you can only stay at a junior college for so long. But don’t worry. The program will be basic, with personal terminals for hands-on experience. Space is limited by the number of terminals available, so try to register promptly when you see the ISBA notice.

Finally, the Section Council will be cosponsoring Financial Exploitation—Elder Law Boot Camp, part of an extensive program scheduled for April 25-26. The Elder Law Committee is handling the laboring oar for the multi-discipline program. Watch ISBA publications for further details.

Now I’m done with the advertisements, but I want to hit one more topic. ISBA President Jim McCluskey has made wellness a focus of his year. Wellness is a topic near and dear to our Senior Section members. We have new titanium knees, hips and shoulders. We suffer hair loss and hearing loss. What is higher, our blood pressure or our cholesterol? I’ve given some thought to making “wellness” an agenda item at our Senior Lawyer Council meetings. But I can’t risk the meetings going any longer because we have to break after an hour to go to the bathroom.

The wellness issue is why a recent Time article (12/19/18) caught my eye. Time summarizes an article in the Journal of Neurology, reporting on a study at Duke University. The study focused on 160 subjects who were around age 60, but tested in thinking skills similar to people in their 90s. The subjects were divided into 4 groups. Not surprisingly, the group assigned “diet and exercise” fared significantly better than the groups assigned “diet” or “exercise” alone. More surprisingly, is the extent of the difference. The “diet and exercise” group improved their cognitive test scores by 9 years, i.e., they scored as if they were 9 years younger.

The next week, my email brought me multiple PeoplesPharmacy.com reports on similar subjects. The British Journal of Sports Medicine (10/15) reported a French study of 1000 subjects over age 65. Fifteen minutes of daily walking decreased the risk of early death (within the 12 year study) by 22 percent. Moderate and high level exercise lowered the likelihood of early death by 28 and 35 percent, respectively. JAMA Internal Medicine, online December 28, 2018, concluded that multi-component training—i.e., aerobic plus strength and balance—dreduced the likelihood of falls, a leading cause of accidents and deaths for those over 65.

Within a few days of January 1, I realized that virtually every newspaper and magazine in the country was running its annual Wellness series. Tai chi, cross training, yoga, apparently there’s even an orange theory of fitness—it’s a wellness information avalanche. But I think it does some good. I can personally attest than on January 2, there were about 7 million people at my health club alone. By April 2, there will be about a dozen of us left.

So where are we going with this? President Jim McCluskey promoted wellness at his June installation. To paraphrase an old saying, the best time to start an exercise program was in June. The second best time is today. Good luck!