The Emeritus Project: How to Sort of Retire While Still Practicing Interesting and Important Law

Pullman & Comley attorney Diane W. Whitney writes about the Emeritus Project, a program initiated by the Pro Bono Committee of the Connecticut Bar Association, in the March 2009 issue of The Connecticut Lawyer. The Emeritus Project gives retired attorneys the opportunity to use their skills for the benefit of those who need legal help but cannot afford it. According to Whitney, "the Emeritus Project seeks to address the concern that as babyboomer attorneys reach retirement age, the profession nationally loses an enormous wealth of talent and experience - at the rate of about 40,000 attorneys per year. If all this wealth of talent and experience was put to work on a pro bono basis, it could radically expand the reach of traditional legal aid agencies and change the world as we know it."