M.C. Escher. Giuseppe Arcimboldo. René Magritte. Aldous Huxley. Franz Kafka. Leonora Carrington. Man Ray.
An Andalusian Dog. God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater. Catch-22. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. Like Water for Chocolate.
Magical realism. Rorschach tests. The chimeras of legal fictions.
Once challenged by these artists and writers, edgy works, and reality-bending concepts, preconditioned perceptions are never the same. Matters of perception are what practicing law is all about. Cases and deals were won that should never have been, and cases and deals lost that rightfully shouldn’t have. Most of the time life is fair, but sometimes it just isn’t. Taking on funhouse turns and distortions, legal careers for many often were more like Möbius strips instead of linear, logical, and orderly.
This issue of Experience shares those twists on perception that make seasoned lawyers’ lives rich, spicy, and clearly worth examining.
Experience welcomes Seth Kramer from California and Norm Tabler from Indiana as new editorial board members. And, of course, we couldn’t be more excited than we already are about Jim Schwartz’s ascension to chair of the Senior Lawyers Division.
For decades, Iowa prosecutor Joe Weeg basked in fame, well-known to other lawyers, judges, and law enforcement. And then he wasn’t. Not even his post-retirement earring made him visible. He shares how an old lawyer disappears, coming up with theories that resound with more reason than just the poor memories of callow youth.
Marquette University Law School professor David Ray Papke, a scholar of the role of law in American culture, is back with his fictional bar association, this time focusing on America’s favorite television lawyers. His article is a great roadmap for those who’re looking to catch up on television lawyers now that Better Call Saul has come to an end.
“How Are You? I’m Still Busy.” That refrain’s been parroted just too many times to have any real meaning, if you ask Kevin McGoff, a retired lawyer who lives part of the year in the south of France, where he learned how to break the habit of boasting about busyness. It’s a rough life, but someone’s got to do it.
Marlene Salomon Ceragno, a gerontological program coordinator in New Jersey, provides some solid counsel about combatting loneliness and social isolation in retirement.
Philadelphia lawyer Stanley Jaskiewicz misses shoveling snow and mustard-slathered pretzels, but he’s learned how to thrive with life restrictions, finding gratitude in what he still can enjoy.
Back with a tribute to Cy Pres and the coveted eponymous ABA award, which will send more than a few readers Googling, Norm Tabler never tells the truth and always does.
Stephen Terrell hits the road, reprising the road trips of his youth, this time with seatbelts and without his dad’s Winstons, while David Zachary Kaufman doles out some sobering advice when it comes to passport-required travel. Jeffrey Allen and Ashley Hallene go within, exploring how technology can make diabetes more livable.
We hope you enjoy this issue as much as we did producing it. And when you finish it, share it with others–even nonlawyers!
