Change is inevitable.

With age comes experience, and often more aches and pains. It changes your perspective, and the time comes when there are fewer opportunities available to you.

As time goes on, the workplace changes. There are new technology and business models, new colleagues and co-workers, new cultures and values. The world of work doesn’t stand still, and that as true in the practice of law as in many other professional fields.

Former local attorney jennifer j. rose was a solo practitioner for nearly 21 years in rural southwest Iowa. She served as a city attorney, an assistant county attorney, a mental health referee and court-appointed counsel.

Yet rose didn’t follow the rules of conventional legal practice. She didn’t want to be a general practitioner, so she wasn’t. She took credit cards at a time when doing so was unprofessional. She was an early adopter of the fax machine, and later of email.

She also took a month off from work at a time. “Because I could,” rose said in an email interview.

“And that would lead to taking a month off in the winter, and another six months later. And that would lead to eventually building a home in Mexico.”

In 1997, rose closed up shop in Shenandoah, Iowa, about an hour outside of Omaha, and moved to Mexico. She maintained her law license as a safety net, but she eventually let it expire for good about a decade later.

Now rose writes about the legal profession and has edited books for the American Bar Association, including her latest text, “Second Acts for Solo and Small Firm Lawyers,” which is available from ABA Publishing and will be widely released in early 2020.

The book explores the decision to retire, as well as when the timing isn’t up to the attorney. It also looks at maintaining bar status, taking work in different directions and that there’s more to life than practicing law. The book has an explainer on Social Security, too.

“While lawyers talk a good line about planning for the future and other contingencies, for the most part, they’re the cobbler’s unshod children,” rose said. “Many lawyers have raised procrastination to an art form, considering themselves bullet-proof, and convinced somehow that they’ll be one of those outliers who can still practice law at the age of 100.”

Many lawyers feel they can’t afford to leave the practice, and not much attention is paid to the lives of lawyers after retirement.

“Lawyers really are a conservative, risk-adverse lot,” rose said. “Many lawyers think they can’t afford to give up their day jobs or aren’t willing to accept the changes in lifestyle that might accompany a career change.”

There’s also the loss of prestige and respect that can be associated with the profession. In fact, “too many lawyers are so wrapped up in their identities as lawyers that they’re afraid to contemplate life without that bar card,” rose said.

The profession is changing, though, and today’s solo and small firm lawyers have to adapt at greater speeds than ever before just to survive, let alone thrive.

At some point, it may be worth considering a career – or a life that isn’t as devoted to work – outside of the practice of law.

For those considering their options, rose recommends preparing to accept the changes that will come as part of their second act. She also recommends looking at what other lawyers are doing outside of the office.

“Following your passion might not have been practical for lawyers in the early and middle stages of their careers, but that’s what second acts are all about,” rose said. “Your professional career will peak at year 20, and after that, decline is on its way.”

Hobbies can turn into small businesses, and volunteer work can keep professionals engaged in a variety of activities – whether that’s pro bono legal work or coaching youth soccer. Golf is a common pursuit, but there’s also building furniture, learning to fly planes and many other ways to spend one’s golden years.

“The second act’s coming for you, whether you like it or not, so you might as well prepare for it,” rose said. “If there is ever a time to do whatever you darn well please, now’s the time.”