Mindfully Lawyering

There has been lots of discussion in recent years about Mindfulness and its applications within the business world. My personal philosophy is that attorneys can use Mindfulness tenets and embark on a path of Mindfully Lawyering.

We begin by examining the etymology of the word “Mindfulness,” which can be defined as “moment-to-moment, non-judgmental, awareness.”

As attorneys, we face the challenge of being a “zealous advocate” and the demands of a high-pressure work environment, which certainly involves time and deadline stressors, not allowing one to be fully present and “in the moment.”

The high-pressure and deadline oriented nature of our profession causes imbalances and inevitably results in documented instances of “attorney burn-out.”

Consequently, the legal profession trends towards burn-out or fatigue caused by a reactive-cycle (ie. Sensory input / stressor – Reaction internally – Coping mechanisms – Breakdown), and unfortunately, very few of us take the time to break this cycle.

Mindfulness may very well be the cure for this well-known “attorney burn-out” cycle, because we can apply the elements of Mindfulness in our legal professions to counteract the “reactive cycles.”

These elements are:

- Stress reduction techniques, such as breath-work

- Awareness training

- Intentional planning

Based on recent neuroscience and medical research, the benefits of Mindfulness as it applies to the legal professional include the following: increased creativity and cognitive functions, with optimal negotiation outcomes, improved immune-system with reduced stress, and overall happy mood / emotionality.

Indeed, it may be our duty as lawyers to infuse mindful techniques into our legal practices, based on concepts of “zealous advocacy” and competent lawyering.

If our goal is providing zealous advocacy in a competent manner, then we are undermining this goal by not being mindful and present during our professional activities.

We must be aware that only by mindfully lawyering can we truly be zealous advocates providing outstanding results that are aligned with the goals / vision of our clients.

The concept of Mindfulness, in and of itself, may invoke notions amongst some legal professionals of “tree-huggers” or “soft push-over styles,” and this is simply not an accurate depiction of this movement towards an Integrative Law paradigm.

Innate in our pursuit of our own professional goals, we must be mindful of our true callings and skillsets.

That is to say, some of us may truly be litigators or trial attorneys, with the grit to actually excel in courtrooms and at trials.

Others may be suited for transactional work or dispute resolution.

Ultimately, we can only know and manifest our true calling as attorneys by being mindful of ourselves, and thus Mindfully Lawyering!