legal sanity

People often ask me if I consider myself a "holistic lawyer" because I help my clients look at their legal issues in terms of their values, life goals and larger interests. Although I do consider the "whole client" in delivering my legal services, I've tended to shy away from the "holistic" label because there are so many ways to interpret the word and what it means to practice law holistically. This recent article from CS Monitor.com profiles some lawyers who work in the holistic mode. I really like how the piece avoids pigeonholing or marginalizing these practitioners by showing how they put their own spin on the term "holistic" in meeting their clients' mainstream legal needs.

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As I've mentioned, I enjoy reading Matt Homann's the [non]billable hour blog for its insight into reorienting the legal profession as a client service industry. This article from New York Lawyer addresses how "the constant emphasis on billables as indicia of success distracts many associates from the factors that spell true distinction in a law firm — learning leadership, service and a client-focused perspective." According to the piece, instead of being hours obsessed, young practitioners should "strive to be the Renaissance lawyer" in their associate class by dedicating at least 10 percent of working hours — billable, chargeable or not — towards improving their craft and adding value to their firm. This Renaissance tally can be composed of "bar association activities, professional writing and speaking, business development, recruiting, mentoring, pro bono and community service." All these activities, the article surmises, improve key lawyering skills and will help you distinguish yourself as a top professional.

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My father-in-law has never been a demanding or overbearing guy. But he did compel my wife to take typing lessons and shorthand in her high school years and to attend law school during her post-graduate search for self. Why? Because he felt that the education would give her valuable skills that transported well into any professional or life endeavor. Along the same lines is this article asserting that aspiring VP and former trial lawyer John Edwards is putting the finesse and interpersonal skills he honed with juries to good use on the Democratic campaign trail.

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Mediation and other modes of alternative dispute resolution ("ADR") now regularly complement and buoy the everyday practice of law. But lawyers often tell me that they feel a bit behind the 8 ball representing clients in ADR processes because they are unfamiliar with the fundamentals of, and differences between, the various dispute resolution forums. This article and this one from Mediate.com provide great overviews of ADR approaches commonly used today.

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Although I've drafted my fair share of simple wills for clients, I never thought of asking them if they wanted to convey anything to their loved ones beyond material possessions. This article discusses the "modern trend" of ethical wills - writings or other recordings in which "people pass down the experiences and values that have infused their lives with meaning." These wills are about the personal stories, love, wisdom and feelings we want to leave as our legacy to future generations. According to the article, the following are some of the key questions to consider in drafting such a will:

* What do you want your loved ones to know about your family history?

* What is your vision for your heirs' use of their inheritance?

* Have you made mistakes for which you want to ask forgiveness? Or is there forgiveness you want to offer?

* Why have you made certain decisions about your estate, such as donating a portion of it to charity?

* How does your use of money reflect your most important values?

* What are some values and life lessons you'd like to share regarding education, the workplace, marriage, and parenting?

* What have your friendships meant to you over the years?

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This article from Time Online Edition gives some new insight into how stress affects our immune system. In a recent meta study of 30 years of stress research, psychologists found that "stress triggers a variety of changes in the immune system — some beneficial, some decidedly less so — depending on how long the stress lasts and whether there is an end in sight." Such tasks as public speaking tend to boost the body's fast-acting immune circuitry for warding off infection and healing wounds. By contrast, short-term stressors with high stakes, like a bar exam, appear to suppress immune responses. Layoffs or other occurrences that "alter a person's role in society or sense of himself and show no sign of ending" - called "chronic stressors" - also significantly compromise immune function. On a positive beat, noting a finding that optimistic law students have more robust immune systems than their pessimistic peers, the article concludes that possessing such "psychological quirks" as a sunny outlook can actually protect you from the ravages of stress.

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When I left big firm practice, it was to fulfill a dream of having my own firm where I helped my clients assess their legal issues in terms of their real needs and larger life interests. It's been a bumpy journey in spots and my vision of the "perfect career" has certainly morphed and evolved over time, but I've learned much along the way and love what I now do as a lawyer and mediator. Here's an article from the ABA's Law Practice Magazine about lawyers who pursued their dream careers both in and outside the law. I like it very much for its candor about the self-effort that it takes to "dig out" our dreams and move towards fulfilling them. I also like the individual lawyer profiles for their upbeat message that those dreams definitely can come true.

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When I conduct seminars on the practice of law, new lawyers often share that they feel woefully under-schooled in the dos and don'ts of reaching out to potential clients and referral sources they meet in social or business settings. This article discusses how two big firms have addressed this issue by engaging consultants to teach associates the fine art of networking. In one firm, associates teamed on random assignments in which they drafted pitch letters and plotted presentation strategies over a two-week period before making a mock business bid to faux clients. The other firm gave its associates "wardrobe instruction, networking tips, and an intriguing behavioral study" on how lawyers' "sociability" scores fall well below the average obtained by the general public - with sociability defined as "a desire to interact with people, especially a comfort level in initiating new, intimate connections with others."

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This American Lawyer article on litigator-turned-entrepreneur Warren Brown made me smile. Realizing early on in his career that "law was not his life's calling," Brown decided that what Washington, D.C. really needed was high-quality cake made from scratch. Overcoming his "fear of flour," he "tackled cake baking like a lawyer -- that is, doing extensive research on cakes, making them, and analyzing the result" - before opening his bakery, CakeLove, to rave reviews.

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I found this article from the ABA Journal on "white-collar lawyers with blue-collar backgrounds" a real eye-opener. I'd never really considered how a lawyer's socio-economic class of origin might impact his professional life. Of the law firm lawyers interviewed, all regarded their backgrounds as a "subtle disadvantage" and something they needed to "come to terms with" when they started working in the law. One suggested his blue-collar roots ultimately made him "a little hungrier" to achieve. Another said that it caused him to be self-conscious and very careful of how he comported himself at work and at work-related events. It's interesting to read this piece along with this recent article and this one from the Christian Science Montior discussing how Sen. John Edwards's background as the self-made son of a textile worker could give the Democratic ticket a vital boost in populist appeal.

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This article from the ABA's New Lawyer highlights an important client-relations skill that law schools don't teach: how to assess whether or not you should be handling a particular case. According to the piece, the right "fit" between lawyer and client is just as important a consideration as familiarity with the area of law involved. Only by making self-evaluation an integral part of the case assessment process, can lawyers learn "when to keep a case, when to refer it, and when to say I can't help you."

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From Austrailia's Lawyers Weekly comes this article about law firms hiring "mature-aged lawyers," that is, people who pursue law later in life as a second career. According to the piece, because of their business and life experience, such lawyers tend to "understand the context in which particular transactions occur as part of the commercial world and may have had first-hand experience as a lawyer's client on the 'other side of the fence'. Thus, they can more readily apply the theory of law to its practice than can many of the younger graduates. This enables them to come up with practical, workable solutions for the multitude of problems business clients face." The article also relates that age parity with clients enables "later lawyers" to command respect and become income generators for the firm at a relatively early stage in their careers.

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