Removal

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 I have been put on notice that my name will shortly be removed from the Solicitors' Register  unless I pay the paltry sum of £20 to cover administrative charges incurred by the Regulatory Authority in complying with data protection requirements. Since I retired I have remained on the roll albeit in a non-practising capacity, although and until now no fee had been levied for the privilege.

At £20 the sum is nominal but frankly is there any point if I love retirement so much that I have no intention of ever returning to practice? 

Apparently, so long as my name is on the roll I have the benefit of being able to vote in Law Society elections, something I have never done since retiring. I can also make use of the Law Society's premises in Chancery Lane which I have actually visited in retirement, but only once. I will continue to receive regular professional updates and the online copy of the professsion's magazine. I'd be lying if I said I'd never glanced at them in retirement but very rarely and then only out of some kind of morbid curiosity subsequent to which I'm pleased to report that I've never felt as though I've been missing out by spending my days in the pursuit of leisure rather than at a desk.

Of course, failing to pay comes with a penalty. Going forward, I shall be forbidden from describing myself as "Solicitor (non-practising)". Until his recent demise, a great uncle was accustomed to sending out Christmas cards in which, following his signature, he listed all his qualifications after his name including the membership of his own professional association. I have never followed suit and have no intention of sending out any missive describing myself as a non-practising member of my previous profession. 

In any event my surname on the roll and under which I practised was the name I was born with, whereas I have tended to use Mister E's surname for family and personal matters. My previous name and description do not therefore even give me a title that I have found any reason to use since I retired in 2014.

Nostalgia and emotion still suggest it will be an internal wrench to know that I am no longer considered a member of the legal profession after more than 40 years on the roll and 6 years before that qualifying for my inclusion on it. It would not be a hardship to pay £20 a year to preserve my name there, but on a list where nobody is ever likely even to see it and there is no overt benefit to me, what is the point? Commonsense clearly tells me that there are more charitable ways to gift £20 than apply it for an exercise of bureaucracy.

So, with a small tinge of wistful regret, I accept that my registration is going to be deleted. I live in the present, not the past. When anyone asks me what I do, I shall continue instead to describe myself as an Explorer of Planet Retirement. No fees are charged for that title and, unlike Chancery Lane, I visit it every day.

(Image by jessica45 from Pixabay) 

 

Comments

Mona McGinnis said…
Caree, surrendering your registration with the Solicitors' Register is a final step in moving forward into retirement. As a retired nurse, I can no longer claim any vestiges of the profession without paying association fees & practising. Someone once said - once a nurse, always a nurse. But I disagree. Certainly there are some fundamentals that stay with us but the practice changes. I suspect it's the same for lawyers. Your new grandchild provides all the credentials you need to claim that role!
19 April 2023 at 14:45
RetirementCoffeeShop said…
I love your new identity of Explorer of Planet Retirement. By letting your name be deleted you are taking the step of not being defined by what you did as an occupation.
19 April 2023 at 15:03
Caree Risover said…
You are absolutely right Mona and after almost 9 years of retirement it does feel to be the right thing.
19 April 2023 at 21:24
Caree Risover said…
I have genuinely sought to avoid defining myself by my past career throughout my retirement. The finality of this step, however, Retirement Coffee Shop, has caused a wave of self-analysis and emotions which I hadn't expected but suppose are understandable. Fortunately I appear to be rising to the test and remain resolute in my commitment to stick to the exploration!
19 April 2023 at 21:36
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