Law unto himself
RETIREMENT is not on Peter Epstein’s radar.
The seasoned veteran of Geelong’s legal community marked 60 years practising law last week, and is still going strong.
“I sort of fell into it (being a lawyer), and haven’t been able to fall out of it,” he says with a wry smile.
“My wife (Barbara) — I hope it’s jokingly — says if I retire I’d probably be dead in a week, so we can’t have that.”
At 83 years old, Mr Epstein still works full-time, including a couple of Sundays each month.
His calm, measured demeanour comes to the fore in family law and Legal Aid matters, and he also appears in criminal hearings.
“The level of experience Peter brings to our firm is invaluable,” colleague Ben von Einem says.
“Every day I learn something new from this great man. I’ve never met someone with a bigger heart.”
Mr Epstein says he’s had a paid job every year since the age of 10.
Starting as a paperboy, he did fruit-picking and post office work while studying law at Melbourne University in the 1950s, and even worked for The Argus newspaper and an insurance broker before graduating.
He was admitted to practise law on March 1, 1961, and moved his young family to Geelong two years later, taking a job under established lawyer Bill Ainsworth.
But tragedy struck his family a short time later.
“My first wife died very young — shortly after we came to Geelong — leaving me with a three-year-old son, and that was when I realised Geelong was a good place to be because heaps of people helped me out,” he recalls.
Mr Epstein continued working with the Ainsworths — first Bill, then his son, former Cats footballer Geoff — and married Barbara. They had three children, all now adults, and now have eight grandchildren.
Recently the couple moved from their acreage at Connewarre to Barwon Heads; a small concession that Mr Epstein was slowing down.
But he still services about 500 clients a year, and, with the court system bogged down by the COVID-19 pandemic, has cases listed for a year and beyond. So, there’s no thought of retirement.
“I enjoy the work; it keeps my mind active … (so) I’ll keep going while I’m mentally capable.”
EVERY DAY I LEARN SOMETHING NEW FROM THIS GREAT MAN. I’VE NEVER MET SOMEONE WITH A BIGGER HEART.” PETER EPSTEIN’S COLLEAGUE BEN VON EINEM