Life skills and career tips for Canada's lawyers in training
Issue link: https://digital.canadianlawyermag.com/i/109031
Practising elder law HeAtHeR CAMPBeLL, Vantage Point Law, Victoria + PROS: • Listening to and learning about the life stories of older adults, and understanding how their experiences intertwine with and impact their current situation. • Creative solutions. Often, victims of elder abuse do not want to pursue litigation because the perpetrator is a loved one. Lawyers are tasked with finding solutions that stop the abuse, respect the underlying family dynamics, meet the specific needs of the client, and achieve justice. • Collaborating with other sectors. Solutions often involve the client's doctor, bank manager, trusted family members, and senior-serving organizations. • Multiple areas of law. The law touches older adults in many ways — they don't just make wills. They get divorced, get married, start businesses, get wrongfully dismissed, buy property, sell property, get arrested, experience discrimination, and get sued. Lawyers in all areas of law can make their practices more senior-friendly. • With the aging population, there is a sustained and growing demand for elder law lawyers. - CONS: • It can be difficult to keep costs affordable in situations that require additional services, such as expensive capacity assessments, travel to residential care homes or hospitals outside of major city centres, or multilingual third-party (i.e. non-family member) interpreters. • Often it is clients with diminished or fluctuating capacity that need help. This poses an ethical web of issues that requires constant reassessment. • Always being skeptical of whether the adult child presenting as well-meaning is actually the perpetrator of abuse. • It is disheartening to see how some adult children treat their aging parents. The greed, sense of entitlement, and untrustworthiness is reprehensible. Practising elder law FARHA sALIM, Field LLP, Calgary + PROS: • It is interesting and rewarding assisting mature clients plan for the enjoyment and succession of their assets in health and in the event of a potential disability. • Planning helps bring certainty, security, and comfort not only to your client but also to their family. • It is gratifying to be a trusted adviser for clients whom you often come to know on a very personal level. • Matters of health, mental and physical capacity, and family relationships often underlie the legal aspects of working for mature clients, which can add complexity and interest to the practice, calling upon a practitioner's broader life skills. - CONS: • It can be disheartening to deal with situations where vulnerable elderly persons are being victimized, particularly when other family members are involved. • Even in non-contentious situations, working with elderly clients can be emotionally charged, especially when your client is gravely ill. C A N A D I A N Law yer 4 students Spring 2013 31