Before leaving for Patagonia last December, I was in limbo regarding whether to continue my part-time legal consulting and mediation practice. The Idaho Bar documents were late in arriving, and I left the U.S. wavering over that decision. I had thought about pulling the plug for two years, but something kept holding me back. It’s not easy to surrender a license you have held for 45 years.
I had been doing exotic travel for a week when the electronic documents arrived to renew my license. Twenty-five years before, I had been on the fence over whether to stay in my litigation practice. It had taken me years to build a successful law practice, but the stress it caused was damaging my health. After deliberating for several years, I gave notice to my law partners that I was moving on. I had no plan of action, but knew I needed to force a change.
Leaving litigation was one of the best decisions of my life. I transformed from starting lawsuits (toxic affairs) to helping people avoid or terminate them through consultation and mediation. For 25 years, I have been an assassin of lawsuits, having helped over a thousand people end their distress and frightening costs.
Going to court is better than killing your opponent, but just barely — trials are dubbed warfare for a reason. Many people in litigation experience a costly miscalculation. Paraphrasing, a litigant is a person who has decided to give up their skin to save their soul.
With lawsuits dispensed, I created a business focused on consultation and mediation. Meeting to resolve long-standing problems (typically handled in one day) is rewarding. It has stressful moments because you have to break down walls of anger built to the point someone decided to sue somebody. However, after 25 years, I was asking myself if it was time to make another change.
I was in Patagonia, surrounded by a level of beauty words cannot fully describe, when I pulled the plug. You need quality time there to appreciate that vast region. I was meeting people daily who were also fulfilling dreams. Returning to Patagonia had been on my bucket list for 20 years, and I thought about the many other things I had set aside because of pressing work demands.
I no longer have an active law license. Thank you to the people who entrusted me over the years with solving complex problems. Some of you became dear friends, and several are my heroes. I have seen grit and graciousness exhibited by people dealing with profound injuries — you taught me much about finding strength and perseverance. I have often wondered if I would have similar strength to carry on.
Having suspended my law license — what would I do with the rest of my life? It was freeing not having other people’s problems frequently plying my mind. From Patagonia, I flew to Mexico, where I bought my partners out on a small beach property. I then bought the adjacent property and am in the midst of building a 14-room resort and house on a remote island off the Pacific coast of Mexico. It’s called Boca del Cielo (mouth of heaven). The place is aptly named — seeing 10 people on the beach is a busy day.
Going inactive, legally speaking, has energized my focus on completing postponed writing projects. My next column will direct you to a website where you can read Manu’s Family. It is an 8-page short story that covers a man’s entire life. My heart and soul are contained in that story, and I feel it is the best thing I have written in 50 years of creative expression. My book manuscript (Little Grey House on Fire) is done and should also be ready for publication before the year’s end.
Last but not least, I am leaving Pocatello and moving to Reno, where I bought a house with my daughter, Chelsey. Reno will be my primary landing spot in the U.S., but I will always return to visit Pocatello. This colorful city, where my life started, has a hold on my heart.
If you are pondering retiring and worry that it could end your active life — reset your focus — consider it a new beginning. I am busier than ever, but nothing these days is work for me.
I took a hiatus from writing columns because I have been swamped since I gave up my license, but I plan to continue writing for the newspaper as time allows. The donations many of you made for Chanpepen (the butterfly fighting leukemia) verify the power of the pen.
If you need an artful condo with a spectacular view in Pocatello, I have one for sale; or, if you need an escape from your stressful job, I also have that waiting in Mexico. Photos of the mouth of heaven were shared with Ian Fennell, and he said, “That looks like paradise.” He’s got that right.