Ray Young Reflects on Career, Profession and Retirement from Hemenway & Barnes

Originally published in 2018

Over his 68 years in practice, attorney Raymond H. Young became a well-respected authority on probate law and trust reform. He was at the forefront of a sea change affecting his area of practice in the 1960s and ‘70s, when he lobbied for the adoption of the Uniform Probate Code and the Uniform Trust Code in Massachusetts. With his recent retirement from Hemenway & Barnes, the former Boston Bar Association president has found himself reflecting on the highlights of his distinguished and influential career.

Young began practicing law in 1950, after graduating from Yale Law School.  He began his legal career at Warner & Stackpole (a firm acquired by Kirkpatrick & Lockhart, now K & L Gates). In 1964, Young teamed up with partner Shirley Bayle to found Young & Bayle, where he worked for more than 50 years. A highly motivated self-starter, Young built a career on providing highly effective and creative legal services to his clients and their families. His outside-the-box thinking about the cases he worked on led him to realize he had a passion not just for practicing law but shaping it.

Young had only recently become a lawyer during Senator Joseph McCarthy’s rise to prominence, and his first encounter with the organized bar happened as he rallied opposition to a “loyalty oath” that would have required lawyers to swear they had never had an affiliation with the communist party. Young was eventually elected to the Boston Bar Association’s council, serving during the presidential term of renowned legal services attorney John G. Brooks.

“He was extraordinary,” Young said of Brooks. “You’d never meet another man like John Brooks, and I think he inspired people, including me, to become more involved in the BBA during his term.”

Young went on to serve on the BBA Nominating Committee that tapped Ed Barshak, founding partner of Sugarman, Rogers, Barshak & Cohen, for the job of president of the association. When Young himself stepped into the role in 1982, one of his major priorities was protecting and advocating for funding for the newly formed Massachusetts Legal Assistance Corporation. Young credits Brooks and Barshak with cementing legal services funding as part of the Boston Bar Association’s core initiatives, and views it as part of his legacy to have carried on their work.

Young also brought the perspective of a law reformer to the BBA after having worked for more than a decade to get the uniform codes passed in an omnibus piece of legislation in 1976. In his President’s Pages from the Boston Bar Journal, Young advocates for further reforms working toward fairer tax laws in Massachusetts.

His colleague, and at times opposing counsel, Lawrence T. Perera of Hemenway & Barnes LLP said, “In my experience, I cannot think of any lawyer who has been held in such high regard by the Probate Bench and Bar as Raymond H. Young. Over and above his skills as an advocate and counselor, Ray led the charge for reform of the probate system in Massachusetts and elsewhere in the nation.”

Young also expressed concern of an overburdened and under-funded court system and wrote in his President’s Pages about the organized bar’s role in addressing the crisis, an issue the BBA is still actively engaged with today.

“I believe I was very concerned about the issues of the day and how they impacted the practice, the profession, and individual attorneys,” Young said.

At the end of his term, Young wrote, “My experiences of the past year have confirmed me in my generally approving view of our profession and its practitioners.” Thirty-six years later, Young still feels that way, praising the lawyers he has encountered – even on the opposing side of the matter – as collegial, respectful and intelligent counterparts. He is also proud to have maintained his reputation as a “gentleman,” even during cases where he represented parties involved in highly personal and contentious disputes over matters such as inheritance.

Young capped off his career by joining Hemenway & Barnes in 2013 and retired from the firm as of counsel.

“As one would imagine, the partners at Hemenway & Barnes were thrilled when Ray Young chose to join our firm in 2013,” Michael J. Puzo of the firm said.  “In his somewhat whimsical way, Ray observed that, as he was then approaching his 85th birthday, he thought it was high time to think about how best to transition his practice and ensure that his clients would be looked after.  Having admired Ray for so many years as the dean of the probate, trust and estate bar, we were quick to welcome Ray to our firm and were blessed and fortunate that he spent 5 years as our colleague, mentor and friend.”

Of his many personal and professional activities and achievements, Young pointed to bar association involvement as something that was immensely fulfilling and helpful to him.

“Especially when you’re starting out, but even as your career advances, working with a bar association is a great way to get out there, get yourself a reputation, and affect changes you want to see around you,” Young said.