INTRODUCING RAYMON HARVEY
One of the first members to be invited to join the Special Needs Alliance, Raymon Harvey from Arkansas, has been an Emeritus member since 2020. He was instrumental in developing a website for SNA in the early days, and keeping membership records. We asked Raymon how he’s enjoying retirement—here’s what he had to say:
A lot of time was involved in just stopping the moving ship of a law practice. Just because you want to get off, the ship has to stop and it takes time for that to happen. Client matters had to be finished, an office full of stuff had to be resolved, and the business end of closing a company had to be done. I spent some time adjusting to the dramatic change in my routine. I had/have a long list of things I need to do so being occupied has not been a problem.
I became the main collector of all things family related—thousands of old photos, documents, and newspaper clippings that had to be converted to some form of digital media. The questions become, “what do you do with all this stuff?,” who will know you have a photograph of your great, great, grandmother who moved to Arkansas in 1860 or that your wife’s ancestor’s names were used as characters in “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.” So I organized family memories and information and produced several bound photo books.
I also wired my home with internet cable (yes I ran the wiring myself) and setup a centralized router and network, I have gathered parts to build a computer and I’m trying to repair a 45 year old turntable. I like making things work.
I am proud I had one at all. I am proud how I helped people even when they never realized it. There were many attorneys who went out of their way to be kind to me and help me and I tried to be the same to other attorneys. Before practicing law, I worked 12 years in a long term care facility for people with developmental disabilities and 10 years as the State Ombudsman. I am proud to say that I was a practicing attorney longer that a state employee.
My wife and I like to travel, so that is our priority. You really can’t go anywhere for very long when you work 60 hours a week and run a law office, so with the pandemic getting better, traveling should get easier. Traveling to Europe, South America and Asia are on our list.
The early years when we first were starting up. I got to help setup the members’ files and initial website and enjoyed being involved. Those early years were fun.
Decide if you want to either practice special needs law or only prepare special needs trusts. Be mindful that you may be the first attorney your client has met so act accordingly. Finally, they came to you for help not to make their situation worse.
Tough question, I like a lot of movies so I will just pick one I like a lot: The Best Years of Our Lives from 1946. It deals with servicemen returning from WWII and the difficulties they face including PTSD and physical injury. Harold Russell was awarded two Academy Awards for his performance (the only time that has happened). Harold lost both of his hands in real life and was given two hooks while in the service. There is a scene in the movie where Homer, played by Harold, is confronted by his childhood girlfriend who he was to marry. Homer shows her his disabilities and what life would be like together. This is a wonderful movie.
• The thing about admiring people is that you have to focus on what you admire and ignore what you don’t.
• Douglas Adams for The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy.
• John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, Michael Palin and Graham Chapman for Monty Python and the SPAM sketch in particular.
• Don Martin, cartoonist for MAD Magazine. Known as MAD’s Maddest Artist.
• Lenny Bruce for standing up for his right to free speech.
• David Bowie for the music he gave us, the influences he has on others and his determination to go his
own way.