By jmb
This week, I am passing a significant milestone in my life – my 50th birthday. Since this is my half-century mark, it feels appropriate to reflect on my life thus far and where it is going. I’m writing this mostly for my future self, but also to share some thoughts with those who are close to me.
Interestingly, I have another milestone this year — because in September I will also pass my 20th anniversary of being an attorney — which realistically speaking is likely the halfway mark of my legal career (or not — my father is still practicing law at age 76 with no signs of stopping), so it feels especially important to reflect on my professional life right now as well.
I will add that I’ve been on the journey of reflecting over the last few months, so this blog post is more of a summary of my thinking thus far.
What I am proud of
So, with those thoughts in mind, I’m going to begin this reflection by commenting on the parts of my life that I’m proud of. I’ve been married for 14-1/2 years (and also a stepdad to Ty for that same period). We don’t have a perfect family (we have our share of arguments and conflicts), but I think we have a good family, because we try hard to support each other in our respective interests and areas of work. We also have a lot of common ground, especially in our collective commitment to lifelong learning (the three of us are very committed to our respective areas of study and teaching), spirituality, and our love of travel and experiencing other cultures. And of course, there is my extended family, which, despite occasional bumps in the road, is doing well right now too.
In my legal work, I’m proud of the cases I’ve had the chance to do over the years. Most of it has been in military defense law, where I’ve had the chance to represent active-duty conscientious objectors, public war resisters, whistleblowers, and combat veterans who are struggling with PTSD. These have often been meaningful cases that reflect my values, so I’m deeply grateful to have had the chance to work with these clients.
Also, I have to mention my religious work, which has long been my second vocation. I’ve done this work in many different settings but today am happy that I’ve found my own quirky interfaith way of making it work, which includes leading a monthly farbrengen (spirited discussion session) for the Spinoza Havurah, preaching once every month or so at a progressive Mennonite Church, and doing a lot of other work (writing, podcasting, teaching) through the Shalom V’Tzedek project. — And I get to do music sometimes too for religious communities, including playing harmonica (and more recently Irish tin whistle) and singing in choirs.
I do a fair amount of volunteer work, including with the Military Law Task Force of the NLG (and several other parts of the National Lawyers Guild), the Leyenda Foundation, and my HOA board (which is mostly an excuse to get to know my neighbors and encourage neighborliness).
Finally, there are all of the other areas of joy in life, including bicycling, playing golf, creating art, gardening, etc. And of course, there are my friends – a delightful group of activists, workers, teachers, clergy members, musicians, and troublemakers.
What I’m not happy with
My life is not all sunshine and roses. First and foremost, I live in the USA during the rise of fascism. This has to be stated because the awareness that I have neighbors and friends who are being targeted is always with me. There is no escape from this awareness.
Secondly, I’ve concluded that my professional life is not sustainable in its current configuration in two key areas.
First, military law work is incredibly stressful. Many of my clients are facing incredible challenges, not only due to their circumstances, but also as it relates to their mental health. I’ve learned through hard experience that there is a finite limit to how many stories of trauma I can hear, and that pushing past those boundaries is a bad idea. In the past, I judged myself for having these limits, but today I know that having limits is part of being human, and that I, as an autistic person, must accept that my limitations are not the same as those of others.
Secondly, my work has not been financially sustainable. Many of my clients have very limited financial resources, so I’ve asked for too little in fees (and sometimes not charging at all), which in the end has put stress on myself and my family, but also has at times led to feelings of resentment and frustration with the people I am trying to help. I certainly do not want money to be the most important thing in my law practice, but I can no longer pretend that it isn’t an important factor either. And at age 50, I’m well aware that I need to earn more over the next 20 years if I want to be able to retire at 70.
What Changes I’ve been making over the last few months
Late in 2025, I started taking steps to make my professional life more sustainable. The first step was to limit my military law caseload to no more than 50% of my legal practice, which means I’m doing other areas of law that are less stressful and pay better. So far, that has meant doing estate planning (wills, trusts, powers of attorney, advanced healthcare directives, etc.), as well as serving as the in-house counsel for the worker-owned Fertile Ground Cooperative here in Oklahoma City.
So far, I’m really enjoying these other areas of legal work. The clients are nice, and I enjoy helping them to feel more secure for their future. There are still social justice issues at stake (I especially enjoy working with African American families, helping them to keep more of their inherited wealth in their family for the next generation), but the stress is much lower. And these areas of law pay much better.
Looking for other sources of revenue
As I look into the future, one of the challenges I see ahead is that I also need to find a way to earn some income to help me be able to do the religious and activist work that I am involved with, which is why I’m kicking off a fundraising campaign on the Ko-Fi platform. (FYI, Ko-Fi is similar to Patreon and other crowd-sourced funding campaigns, but the fees are cheaper) in the hopes that friends who support the work I’m doing might be willing to make a small monthly donation.
To find out more details about the fundraising campaign (including the work that these donations will help fund and some of the perks that donors will receive), please visit: https://ko-fi.com/jmbranum