After 23 years of dedicated service to Oregon lawyers, Mike Long is moving on to new adventures!

Mike brought to the OAAP a truly deep commitment to helping the legal community of Oregon. Because of his thorough approach, willingness to help lawyers, and insight into issues that concerned lawyers, the OAAP now offers assistance with career satisfaction, practicing law with ADHD, resilience building, compassion fatigue, retirement transition, and understanding health insurance.

His research on the retirement issues faced by lawyers and the issues involved in career satisfaction led him to survey Oregon lawyers to learn more about how the OAAP could help. These anonymous surveys proved invaluable to our OAAP program development and to many other lawyer assistance programs around the nation and made Mike realize that lawyers needed a resource for navigating a smooth and successful transition to retirement. Seeing that none was available, he collaborated with John Clyde and Pat Funk to write Lawyers at MidLife: Laying the Groundwork for the Road Ahead. The guide helps lawyers make the successful transition to the next stage of a satisfying life and is an excellent example of how Mike spotted the needs of lawyers and stepped up to fill them.

Mike’s many contributions included facilitating groups, workshops, and educational programs on career transition, compassion fatigue, and building resilience. He also personally assisted individual lawyers. His commitment did not stop with Oregon lawyers, as evidenced by his presentations at national lawyer assistance conferences, and his service on the education committee of the Commission on Lawyer Assistance Programs.

Mike’s assistance changed the course of lawyers’ lives in very profound ways, providing them with guidance and resources that supported a healthier and more satisfying life. We congratulate Mike on a job well done and wish him the very best as he now navigates the transition to his own next stage. We know that his exceptional career accomplishments have prepared him for a successful journey.