My name is Stephen Herman. I am a 63 year old Canadian lawyer and self-trained filmmaker from Canada who has been keenly aware of the need to address retirement and aging in a more proactive, holistic, and positive manner. My journey began in my early 5o's when I first offered retirement planning groups for my colleagues in the legal profession. My efforts to create dialogue were generally not successful. I met with a real resistance to any discussion of aging, retirement and career transition planning.
In 2021 at 60 years of age, partly out of frustration with the poor response to my discussion groups, I decided to make a film for lawyers to help them deal with the inevitability of aging and career transition. Importantly I wanted to share the message that retirement could be varied, diverse and offered a potential for reinvention. While I continue to practice law, creating awareness and fostering contemplation and dialogue about the evolution and transition from one’s career, has become my passion and life's mission, and has resulted in a very interesting and unanticipated aspect to my “post 60” spiritual journey. My passion has been embraced by my spouse of 30 years, my co-filmmaker Evelyn Neaman.
Retirement within the legal profession is an emerging challenge as the baby boomers reach retirement age across the globe. In the US, 1 in 8 lawyers, or 182,000 are over the age of 65. In British Columbia, Canada, 14% of all lawyers practicing are over 65.No one else we know of in Canada, the US or internationally has produced a film on what retirement means for lawyers. This film provides an opportunity to present the issues and provide insight and advice from a variety of high-profile judges, prosecutors, and lawyers, from both their personal and professional experiences.