legal sanity

I've always believed that no lawyer is an island. To best serve our clients and ourselves, we need to have a ready network of top professionals willing to share their knowledge and expertise with us. This article discusses how two law firms have embraced the notion that catering to clients "often requires skills not included in any casebook—like job counseling, financial advising and even the fine art of quickly deploying facial tissues." Recognizing that people in legal conflicts are frequently scared and ignorant about finances, these firms added financial advisors and mental health professionals to their service rosters. One firm representative aptly describes the business upside of this approach in stating: "Clients feel more connected to the people here. [ ] They have the feeling that their representation goes much deeper, because it does."

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My kids' school devotes one assembly each year to the subject of kindness. The benevolent "Count of Kindness" (Dracula's alter-ego) comes on the auditorium stage and touts the benefits of being good to others. This is not just a message for the very young. According to this Ode article profiling the work of Italian therapist and author Piero Ferrucci, kindness has been key to our successful evolution. In Ferrucci's words: "Kindness is the most economical attitude there is. You don't waste energy on mistrust, worry, dislike and manipulation." But, he warns, kindness may not come as easily in the current "ice age of the heart" where the human warmth and connection we need is "marketed like a product." How do we reconnect to our kindest selves? According to Ferrucci, there are two major obstacles to kindness. "The first obstacle is passing judgement [sic], on yourself or others. The second obstacle: telling others what they should do or who they should be, giving them advice and trying to control them." These two kindness blockers certainly come into play in the everyday practice of law. But, lawyers can overcome them by taking off our mantle of absolute authority, bypassing black letter rhetoric and really paying attention to our clients' stories and needs. As Ferrucci sees it, this type of attention is a form of empathy. And once people feel that you're putting yourself in their shoes, they're able to head down a path of resolution and healing. The trust relationship forged through this dynamic represents kindness-in-action. This is why Ferrucci states: "You don't have to choose between being kind to yourself and others. It's one and the same."

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As I previously mentioned, I'm very interested in the discussion about optimal business operation in the new millennium. This article suggests that our world of work is in a constant state of flux, requiring a new paradigm for organizational and individual success. Businesses can no longer survive and thrive by "establishing an efficient organizational structure and then hiring individuals to meet the needs of the structure." Instead, to meet the realities of the evolving marketplace, they must "have flexible professionals, ready to change as the needs of the organization and the economic climate changes." What does this mean for lawyers? According to the piece, the new paradigm calls for workers who are "aware of their vision, the best role that they play in achieving productivity and success." The problem is, most legal professionals are not educated or otherwise trained to identify work roles best suited to our individual talents and abilities. As the article concludes, finding this fit takes a good measure of self-effort. We need to learn how "to operate from a sense of our strengths and bring our strengths to our work world at every endeavor."

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Yes, a bit belatedly, but with much cyber gusto, I would like to alert you to the launch of TechnoLawyer Blog. Produced by Neil Squillante and Sara Skiff, this "amalgam of pithy commentary, industry news, and other helpful information" augments the newsletter and other offerings of the largerTechnoLawyer Community - a "leading online resource for legal technology and practice management information." You'll find the inaugural post here. Read, enjoy and increase your techno-prowess.

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This CSM article discusses how an increasing number of high school students on the college application circuit look beyond the markers of prestige and reputation to consider "the quality of the college experience" and how a school meshes with their "learning style." The piece suggests a number of reasons why finding the right fit is becoming more integral to the college selection process. First, there's "ever-intensifying competition" for a limited number of spots at the most highly-regarded institutions. Then there's the harsh reality of skyrocketing tuition costs. General convenience also comes into play. Moreover, recognizing that college will be their surrogate home for some four years, students are opening to the importance of being in a nurturing atmosphere. This article offers valuable instruction on the mindset of tomorrow's lawyers. What will they look for in a law firm? Will stellar reputations and high salaries be enough to get them to sign on, or will they seek out business environments that truly complement their personalities and larger life interests? As the legal profession's landscape continues to shift and morph, firms of all sizes and types will have to consider and re-consider what they will offer the next generation of practitioners - women and men likely to be very discerning about their workplace and less inclined to tolerate ill-fitting situations, however lucrative and prestigious, for long.

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I recently returned from a week of business travel that started at LexThink Chicago, a very inspired and inspiring blogger gathering others have reviewed here, here, here and here. At LexThink, I thoroughly enjoyed meeting many terrific people and sharing ideas about optimizing our lives in the law. The event's fluid, open-space format facilitated connection and commentary within the main assembly and break-out groups. But it was the participants' palpable creative drive that really impressed me. People were not there to be mere spectators. We were all clearly pulled by a strong desire to use our creative energies to move the legal profession in a positive direction. Lawyers are often criticized for being robotic and soulless. And the law is not usually portrayed as a pathway for creative expression. LexThink proved otherwise. Anyone who sat in that venue for even a few minutes could tell that creativity is a key, if not the key, to finding innovative, intuitive and soul-satisfying ways to practice in our chosen profession. I look forward to future LexThink endeavors and send many thanks to Dennis, Matt and Sherry for fostering thought, dialogue and action on the law's - and our own - creative potential.

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The most recent installment of ABAJournal.com's Above the Trees relates how Chicago's 911 call center is designed to combat the enormous stress that comes with the job of dispatching emergency services. To foster calm and comfort, the call center floor boasts dimmed lights, circulated fresh air, adjustable work stations and a temperature setting that's "a touch higher than normal." Bringing the outdoors in, the floor also features "an expansive atrium flooded with natural light and filled with cushy couches and thriving plants." The designers equipped this area with tables "stacked with magazines and games, letting staffers lose themselves in narrative or find community over a game board." Augmenting the on-site offerings are a gym, stress reduction clinics and a city-sponsored "assistance program that includes professional counseling." Above the Trees "looks at leaders and industries outside the law" to help lawyers better understand and navigate their own business operations, client interactions and work-life challenges. Law firm managers should heed this article's message. We're a profession plagued by stress, attrition and discontent. And, as I've shared before, there's a definite nexus between workplace environment and worker happiness and productivity. Employee physical and emotional comfort should be an integral part, and a priority, of law firm design.

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Here's yet another perspective on the waning public perception of lawyers. In this article, "Humorist-at-Law" Sean Carter suggests that a "solution to our image problem" might be a lawyer-fueled reality show modeled after the popular Queer Eye for the Straight Guy. Instead of making over the life of a "hapless" straight man, the "Legal Fab Five" (described by Carter in comic detail) would "use their legal skills to enhance the lives of laymen." Whatever you think of Carter's tongue-in-cheek suggestion, it raises an important point. Many lawyers take themselves way too seriously. This air of self-importance distances us from the people we regularly deal with, putting them off and perpetuating the stereotype of the cold and soulless advisor. An infusion of a little lightness and humor into our daily practice just might ease the negative perception of our profession that we've helped foster.

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The ABA's Section of Dispute Resolution will host its 7th Annual Conference, the Golden State of ADR, from April 14-15 at the Los Angeles Millennium Biltmore Hotel. According to the event brochure (pdf), there will be more than 100 presentations "covering the diverse world of dispute resolution, organized into practice and interest specific tracks." There's also a series of "pre-conference workshops" designed to help practitioners of all experience levels grow and hone their conflict resolution skills. I went to last year's annual meeting in New York and really enjoyed it. So, if you're in the LA area or feel like a field trip, this is a great opportunity to learn - or to learn even more - about ADR practice.

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I've discussed the public's perception of lawyers here and here. There are many different views on why lawyers are often negatively portrayed by the mainstream media and disparaged in water cooler conversations. In this post from the new group blog, Between Lawyers (let me officially join in the rousing welcome), contributor Denise Howell suggests a home remedy for this common public misperception - blogging. According to Howell, lawyer blogs afford the masses "a more complete picture of the humans comprising the profession." As more law blogs take root and mature, Howell proposes, "the harder it will be to generalize about how evil we are, the more accountable the jerks and lameheads will be forced to become, and the easier it will be to help clients do business and dissipate conflicts with fewer undue lawsuits and less undue rancor." I agree that well done blogs can raise lawyers' standing in the eyes of cyber-savvy citizens. But, for a broader image boost, we need to reconsider the way we regularly interact with our clients, adversaries and the press. What kinds of messages do we routinely impart about ourselves and other lawyers? Do we extol traits like empathy, honesty and civility? Or, do we consciously or otherwise sanction animosity, war-room tactics and arrogance as par for the course of everyday lawyering? The public will not change their negative opinion of us until law schools, law firms, bar groups and, most importantly, each of us take steps to uplift the profession from the inside out.

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Since posting on the science of happiness, I've been reading up on positive psychology. As this article details, positive psychology departs from the field's mainstream focus on "dysfunction, illness, healing and coping strategies" by seeking "to understand and build human strengths." Embracing empirical science, the pioneers of positive psychology project "that the movement's research will yield methods of making exercise less tedious, work more rewarding, relationships more enjoyable--in short, making what is good in life even better." Amen to that. And all these positive vibes seem to be spreading to the institutional level. An emergent branch of the organizational sciences called positive organizational scholarship (pdf) "focuses on the dynamics in organizations that lead to the development of human strength, foster vitality and flourishing in employees, make possible resilience and restoration, and cultivate extraordinary individual and organizational performance." Having just examined similar ideas at LexThink! Chicago (more reflections on this terrific and inspiring event in the coming days), I can say that both disciplines are pertinent to optimizing professional service delivery and I look forward to learning more about them.

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The experts culled for this article on law firm design advise that our work space should reflect our "firm's identity." In cultivating our physical plant, they say, we need to consider how we want others to perceive our business and incorporate "specific materials to create the desired impression." For example, firms looking "to project an established, old-school image should focus on materials that depict antiquity," like solid woods and leather upholstery. Those wanting to draw "high-tech markets and younger, progressive clients" should employ "[c]ontemporary colors and bright materials like chrome and metal." This guidance presumes that we fashion our office space largely to affect clients and other office guests. That's a fair presumption. But, it misses the more important point that our workplace's design affects and reflects our own state. The article obliquely addresses this point in its discussion of Feng Shui, the "Chinese art or practice of positioning objects [ ] and furniture based on a belief in patterns of yin and yang and the flow of chi that have positive and negative effects." My wife and I have used Feng Shui at home and at work with the help of our good friend, the very talented Reiko Gomez of Reiko Feng Shui Interior Design. Upon walking into my office, people often comment on how calm, inviting and energizing it is. And my mediation clients tell me that the environment is conducive to resolution. I'm thrilled for them, but even happier for me. Absent this design synergy, I wouldn't be as content or efficient during my long work day.

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