Virus disrupts lawyer’s farewell
Lawyer John McGlashan planned to retire this week after 44 years practising in Timaru, but will have to head back to work in at least a month to tie up some loose ends.
McGlashan, 68, said goodbye to law on Tuesday as his colleagues were preparing to close the office at RSM Law as part of the coronavirus lockdown.
‘‘I was planning to finish on March 31 and do some travelling around the South Island but we have to close on Wednesday so I will be back after four weeks to finish some things off – I will be isolating in the meantime,’’ he said.
‘‘We’ve postponed the farewell party, we will party at a later date.’’
McGlashan started practising law in Timaru in 1976 after graduating from Canterbury University in 1974 and practising in Christchurch for a year.
Law was his second choice as he wanted to be an architect but was ‘‘no good at maths’’.
‘‘It was all court work. They were pretty stressful times as it was quite a heavy workload and I didn’t get paid well, about $65 a week and $35 of that went to rent.
‘‘I was married with a child at that stage.’’
He described the early years as a ‘‘learning curve’’.
‘‘It got easier as time passed on, and as I got more confident. ‘‘It was family law that I gravitated to as I enjoyed dealing with people. I represented children in the Family Court.’’
RSM Law was then known as Raymond, Ward, Sullivan and Clooney – and McGlashan stayed on for 44 years.
‘‘It was, and still is, a good firm to work for,’’ he said.
He was named a partner in the firm in 1981.
‘‘In terms of highlights,
I don’t want to talk about specific cases, the main thing has been building up longterm relationships with clients. I will miss them.’’
What made practising law great was that ‘‘every day is different, it’s never boring and there’s always a new challenge’’, he said.
‘‘Technology has been the main change in those years. When I first started we had our own typists.
‘‘Now the graduating guys do their own typing.’’
On the negative side, there had been a significant increase in ‘‘red tape’’, he said.
‘‘It probably affects all businesses which becomes tiresome.’’
McGlashan said he planned to travel and play more golf.
He has two children, three grandchildren and one grandchild on the way – all in Timaru.