My Friend Carol Wilson

On Friday, March 18 we lost a special person — friend and colleague Carol Wilson.

Carol created the Professional Liability Fund’s practice management advisor program and was one of the first practice management advisors in the United States.  In 1986 she wrote the first PLF handbook, Law Office Procedures to Avoid Malpractice, now known as A Guide to Setting Up and Running Your Law Practice.  In 2001 she attacked the arduous task of writing a comprehensive book on IOLTA: A Guide to Setting Up and Using Your Lawyer Trust Account. Both handbooks continue to be used by lawyers and law office staff throughout the state. 

Carol also started our collection of practice aids and forms, wrote countless articles, served as newsletter editor, presented numerous CLEs, and volunteered her time and energy to many committees and associations.  In short, if it weren’t for Carol, there would not be a PLF law practice management program.

When Carol retired in 2004, we were sad to see her go, but knew she was looking forward to traveling and spending time with her family.  For a retiree, she was one of the busiest people I knew.  She cheerfully continued her volunteerism, spending many hours helping seniors.

If you had the pleasure of knowing Carol, then you can begin to get a sense of how many people she touched.  She was happy, pleasant, and upbeat.  She always had a smile on her face and a joke wasn’t far behind.  On her last birthday, she alternately told people she was “45” and “29.”  I once said to her on Facebook, “Hi Carol. Geez, we gotta get your picture up here!”  (Meaning a profile picture).  To which she replied: “Ha, Ha! I don’t get my picture taken any more.”  I’ll have you know, Carol was a pretty cute retiree.  If I didn’t think she’d come back and get me, I’d post a picture to prove it!

There are three of us who work now as Practice Management Advisors for the PLF.  Carol trained each of us.  (Notice it took THREE of us to replace her?)  If we are at all successful in what we do, we owe it to Carol.  She was an inspiration, a mentor, and a friend.  I will miss her.