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As people are living and working longer, the definition of what it means to be a senior continues to evolve. The demographics affect us all, including lawyers. Senior lawyers currently make up 25 percent of the Association’s membership, and include those who continue to work full time at law firms or in solo practices, as well as those who opt for part-time employment opportunities or donate pro bono services in their communities. In July 2006, the New York State Bar Association formed a special committee to recognize such lawyers and the unique issues that they face. As the result of the work of this committee, in 2008, the House of Delegates approved creation of the first 50+ Lawyers Section of the New York State Bar Association.
50+ Lawyers Section Profile
Lawyers who are age 50 or older have valuable experience, talents, and interests. Many such senior lawyers are considering or have already decided whether to continue to pursue their full-time legal careers or whether to transition to a new position, a reduced time commitment at their current position and/or retirement from a full-time legal career. Accordingly, the 50+ Lawyers Section has been created and charged with the mission of:
- Providing opportunities to senior lawyers to continue and maintain their legal careers as well as to utilize their expertise in such activities as delivering pro bono and civic service, mentoring younger lawyers, serving on boards of directors for business and charitable organizations, and lecturing and writing;
- Providing programs and services in matters such as job opportunities; CLE programs; seminars and lectures; career transition counseling; pro bono training; networking and social activities; recreational, travel and other programs designed to improve the quality of life of senior lawyers; and professional, financial and retirement planning; and
- Acting as a voice of senior lawyers within the Association and the community
Scope of Activities
The 50+ Lawyers Section seeks to address such issues as:
- Career continuity
- Career changes
- The desire and opportunity to:
- Render pro bono service
- Serve on boards
- Mentor other attorneys
- Take CLE courses relevant to seniors
- Social activities for seniors
Contact the 50+ Section Liaison
To learn more about this Section, please contact Ernesto Guerrero
[email protected]
(518) 487-5535
Please do not contact the Section liaison with a request for legal advice or an attorney referral. You can instead visit our ‘Public Resources’ or ‘Lawyer Referral Service’ page for this type of request.
Hon. Adam Seiden
Hon. Adam Seiden is Chair of the 50+ Section. Judge Seiden is admitted to practice law in the State of New York for forty-six (46) years. He is a sole practitioner with a general practice located in Mt. Vernon, New York. He recently retired (mandatory) after twenty-seven (27) years as Associate City Court Judge of the Mount Vernon City Court where he published in excess of one hundred (100) decisions in the New York Official Reports.
Judge Seiden is a past president of both the Mount Vernon and Westchester County Bar Associations and is on the executive committee of New York State Bar Association as vice president from the Ninth Judicial District. He is also a member of the House of Delegates for the American Bar Association.
Judge Seiden holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Lehman College, Juris Doctor degree from Brooklyn Law School and LLM degree from New York University School of Law.
Awards
2022 Jonathan Lippman Pro Bono Award
2021 Jonathan Lippman Pro Bono Award Winner:
Scott Fein, Esq.
New York State Bar Association 50+ Section 2021
Scott Fein, Esq.
Partner, Whiteman Osterman & Hanna LLP
Albany, NY
Scott Fein is a partner at Whiteman Osterman & Hanna where he has been an attorney since 1983. Since joining the Firm, Mr. Fein has devoted his time to regulatory compliance and the defense of civil, criminal corporate enforcement matters and, public service.
Mr. Fein has served as Vice-Chair of the Governor’s Task Force on the Implementation of the Public Authorities Reform Act, a Member of the Court of Appeals Permanent Commission on Sentencing, Chair of the Board of Advisors of the Government Law Center at Albany Law School, Senior Advisor and Fellow of the State University of New York’s Rockefeller Institute of Government’s Center for Law and Policy Solutions (SUNY’s Public Policy Think Tank), Counsel to the New York State Archives Partnership Trust and Chair of the NYS Bar Association Annual Ethics and Civility Program (Albany).
He has been the principal editor and co-author of books including:
- Making a Modern Constitution: The prospects for Constitutional Reform in New York (2016)
- Is America Fulfilling Its Promise: Legal Protections for Immigrants (2019)
- Demographics Need Not Be Destiny: The Importance of Refugees to Communities to Upstate New York (to be published in March, 2021)
And, edited and co-authored volumes of the Government Law and Policy Journal, a joint publication of the NYSBA and Government Law Center at Albany Law School, including:
- New York State: A Laboratory for Innovative Social Policy
- New York State Public Authority Reforms
- The Protections in the New York State Constitution Beyond the Federal Bill of Rights
- One Hundred and Six Ideas for State Constitutional Change
- Rural Justice in New York State: Changes and Recommendations
Mr. Fein has received the New York State Bar Association’s (NYSBA) President’s 2006 Pro Bono Service Award, the National Law Journal’s 2006 Award for Pro Bono Service and the New York Law Journal’s Award for the most significant civil rights case of 2005 featured in the Jonathan Demme and Shawn Gallagher’s documentary Boys of the Blacklist.
Mr. Fein received his Juris Doctor from Georgetown University School of Law and Master of Law degree from New York University School of Law. Before joining Whiteman Osterman & Hanna, he served as Assistant Counsel to New York Governors Carey and Cuomo, and prior to that as a criminal prosecutor.
Honorees
2020 Jonathan Lippman Pro Bono Award honorees were: Jonathan J. Lerner, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, LLP, New York, NY and George “Jerry” Mackey, Barclay Damon LLP, Rochester, NY.
2019 Jonathan Lippman Pro Bono Award honorees were: Ronald C. Mayer, The New York Legal Assistance Group (NYLAG), Evelyn Frank Legal Resources Program, New York, NY and Shirani Ponnambalam, Pace Women’s Justice Center, White Plains, NY.
2018 Jonathan Lippman Pro Bono Award honorees were: Joan Lia Levy, Esq., Pro Bono Partnership, Inc., White Plains, NY and Anthony Szczygiel, Esq., Center for Elder Law & Justice, Buffalo, NY.
Special Commendation: Blaine V. Fogg, Esq., Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP, New York, NY.
2017 Jonathan Lippman Pro Bono Award honoree was Glenn J. Pogust, Esq., Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer, New York, NY
Retirement Life Planning After Covid-19: Where are You and Your Practice Heading (Part II)
Recorded on March 9, 2021
Retirement Life Planning After Covid-19: Where are You and Your Practice Heading (Part I)
Recorded on February 9, 2021
Untangling Fear in Lawyering
Recorded on January 12, 2021
