Summary
- Bob Louis discusses the highlights of his career and what he could have done differently looking back.
- Mr. Louis offers his advice for others who may consider attending law school.
I am a graduate of the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania (1969) and the Harvard Law School (1972). I practiced in the areas of tax, retirement and estate planning in Philadelphia for 47 years. After working at a couple of law firms and serving as managing partner of one, I worked the last 20 years as a partner in the Saul Ewing firm. I retired at the beginning of 2020 after phasing down for a few years. My wife and I had planned a cruise in ports in China for March of that year, but the onset of the pandemic prevented our traveling. Perhaps we will make it up later. Over the years, I have been and remain involved in many bar-related, charitable, and civic organizations, and I added some new interests after retirement- environmental protection and Civil War studies. Retirement is great and, as indicated below, I have worked the past five years through the ABA to help others enjoy it. More important than my legal accomplishments: my wife and I recently celebrated our 55th wedding anniversary; we have two wonderfully accomplished daughters (a lawyer and a teacher, like us) and two nearly perfect grandsons (or maybe not just nearly).
The highlights of my career are the people I met; clients whom I was honored to help, partners and older colleagues who were a source of wisdom and camaraderie, and younger lawyers whom I have tried to help in their careers with whatever mentoring skills I might have. The last of these, I think, is the most important. I am glad to see so much more emphasis on mentoring in law firms these days, which is a skill that lawyers in earlier generations provided in short supply, often preferring the throw-him-in-the-pool-and-see-if-he-swims technique.
The person who proclaims that he or she would have done nothing differently probably has a poor memory. We all make many choices in our lives and careers, and a different choice might have led to a different path. But it’s like that idea that if you go back in time and step on a butterfly, it might change your whole future in ways you hadn’t wished for. I think what people who say they would do nothing differently are really saying is that things worked out well, so why think of doing them differently?
I would give the most mundane advice: treat people honestly and fairly; treat everyone you work with, from senior partners to the people who clean the kitchen, the same; work as hard as anyone and harder than most. Try to develop a niche that makes you important or even indispensable to others. Consider the many opportunities for lawyers that exist outside of law firms. But do not treat your intended profession as a 24/7 effort. Do things separate from your career development, which is something that too many lawyers do not do. It’s like that joke about the tombstone no one has ever seen: “I should have worked harder.”
The dramatic changes in the technology of law practice are certainly the biggest difference from when I started practicing. We did not have computers, much less the Internet or Westlaw et al. To research a question on the land law changes in the Philippines, I had to visit the public library. Today, of course, law firms have very few books, and technology has permitted firms to do away with individual offices in some cases. Those of us a little older will remember fondly the feeling of a volume of F.2d, but nostalgia does not compare with the greater efficiency available through technology. In fact, technology is responsible for a second substantial change in practice: the ability to work remotely. Something is lost when lawyers are not able to gather together and exchange ideas and experience, but a great deal more is gained in the freedom from commuting and the ability to integrate work and leisure time. There are certainly more changes coming in the structure of work, and I hope they make the practice both more efficient and more enjoyable. The final change in the practice of law is the growth of very large law firms. I must be a curmudgeon here and say that I regret the inability to know all my colleagues (and how they can help clients) because they number in the hundreds. But I am apparently trying to hold back the sea like a king of old.
Many law firms in earlier years provided bar association membership as a matter of course, and that was my experience when I joined the ABA in January of 1973. But with that came advice from older lawyers that we should feel an obligation to participate in the organized bar and improve the profession. We know that bar association participation at all levels has fallen for many reasons, including the billable hour requirement, but something of our professionalism has been lost as a result.
The great thing about taking part in the work of the Senior Lawyers Division is the chance to meet lawyers from around the country who gather to provide guidance and education to senior lawyers. I would have met very few of these lawyers except for the work of the SLD.
I have been privileged to serve as the Chair of the Financial Services and Retirement Planning Committee within the Senior Lawyers Division for several years. This has, again, given me a chance to meet and work with excellent lawyers from all over the country. And we have been able to present, for two years, the Lawyer Retirement Starter Series. This Series has, I am pleased to say, provided valuable guidance to lawyers as they consider and prepare for the next stages of their lives, whether it be retirement or a changed or new career path.
I have had a lifelong fascination with mathematics, which continues to the present. If I see a number, I immediately see what factors it can be divided into. And my favorite high school subject was quadratic equations. I might well have become an actuary. But I prefer the people-oriented aspects of being a lawyer. So doing trusts and estates work could come fairly close.