“I may be used (but baby I ain’t used up)”
(with apologies to Waylon Jennings)

            Invoking the words of the late great Waylon Jennings is entirely appropriate in this year when the Oakland County Bar Association is proud to recognize a record class of 40-Year Honorees at the upcoming 74th Annual Meeting. In my time on the board, I have attended many an awards ceremony, and each year the class of 40-Year Honorees is impressive. In this year, however, it is not only impressive, it is of record size. It is our privilege to honor 69 lawyers this year. They are listed below. It is an outstanding list indeed. Though they have been practicing for 40 years, most, if not all of them, are still active practitioners, and still at the top of their game.

            We have a U.S. District Court judge (Bernard A. Friedman), two Oakland County Circuit Court judges (Fred M. Mester and Edward Sosnick), three past presidents of this organization (Mike Hutson, Jon Kingsepp and Jeff Leib), a past State Bar president (Tom Kienbaum), and our own County Executive (L. Brooks Patterson). In addition, we have a greatly distinguished class of high-level practitioners whose practices range from commercial transactions, personal injury (both plaintiff and defense), family law, probate, employment, criminal defense, and even a law school dean (Don LeDuc).¹

            Maybe it says something about their generation that so many of them are still so vibrant after 40 years in the trenches. Maybe it also says something about the practice of law itself, which recognizes that experience is a good thing, and that “early” retirement is perhaps not all that it’s cracked up to be.

So, we have an outstanding class of 40-Year Honorees. And paraphrasing the immortal words of Waylon Jennings, “While they may be used, baby, they ain’t used up.”

            If you’ve never attended the Awards Ceremony, please think about doing so this year. To me, it is one of the best hours of the bar year. The OCBA takes the time to honor not only the 40-year members but all of the award winners for 2007-2008. Given the size of this year’s class of honorees, we are going to start a half-hour earlier (i.e., at 4:00 p.m.) on June 11, 2008. It will be my pleasure to serve as host for the Award Ceremony this year. Please join us.

LAWYERS GIVING BACK

            Tim Patterson just so happens to be one of this year’s 40-Year Honorees. He also bears mentioning as a Lawyer Giving Back.

            Tim is longtime member and supporter of the Waterford Rotary Club, and is a past president of the Clarkston Area Chamber of Commerce. He is also one of the founders of the Waterford Foundation for Public Education, which raises money to support the Waterford school system and gives grants to teachers to cover some of the “extras” that are not contemplated by the school budget. Tim has also served for years as counsel to the Clinton Valley Boy Scouts.

            Like so many of the other 40-Year Honorees, Tim Patterson is a citizen lawyer, who recognizes the importance of giving back to the community that supports him.

Footnote

1          On a personal note, I will have a lot of explaining to do if I don’t mention my partner, Brian Einhorn, in this column. Like many of those in the list of 40-Year Honorees, Brian too is still at the top of his game (at least in the courtroom, if not on the ski slopes.) Editor’s note: He should be out of his sling by the Annual Meeting.