Stephen Herman is a Canadian civil litigator with more than three decades of experience helping clients through legal disputes while championing advocacy and professional collegiality. Like many lawyers, he eventually faced two questions his legal training couldn't answer: Is there more to life than the practice of law? And what happens when the career that defined you ends?
Those questions sent him from the courtroom to the camera. While still practicing, Stephen began making documentary films exploring justice and social impact in Ethiopia, Central America, Guyana, and Vietnam – work that opened new pathways for creativity and, paradoxically, renewed his commitment to the law.
His film, Retirement on Trial, wrestles with a question most lawyers prefer to avoid: how to face the end of a defining career. Framed as a courtroom-style inquiry with a touch of humour, Stephen takes on the case of his career – defending retirement. Lawyers, judges, and other professionals testify, revealing their fears, their assumptions, and the possibilities they hadn't yet considered.
