Categories : Wellness
Finding a Pathway to Mindfulness
Stress and anxiety seem to be an inherent part of the job description of being a lawyer. This mindset has to change if we hope to achieve happiness in our chosen career.
Categories : Wellness
Meditation: Pathway to Mindfulness
"Mindfulness is moment-to-moment awareness." Rick Waite offers a personalized guide to mindfulness.
Categories : Wellness
The Importance of Exercise from the Perspective of a Law Student
Regular exercise has long been held as the key to a healthier life: increasing one’s natural energy levels and even adding years to one’s life. However, the benefits of exercise go deeper than just physical betterment.
Categories : Technology Wellness
Harmonizing Work-Life Balance and Work-Work Balance
By Lilys McCoy
I recently started using a fountain pen. Why, you may ask? Two reasons: First, I felt I needed to do a digital detox and returning to longhand seemed like a good way to start. Second, my writing hand, previously hardened by years of cursive script on legal pads, spiral notebooks and paper calendars, had become weak, and fountain pens are apparently easier on the muscles (that bit of wisdom was spot on, in case you wondered). I was almost surprised to see that the descendant of the quill is still being sold and supported, but it is . . . and in many different forms and by many different manufacturers.
As I contemplated my digital detox, I also considered the hard reality that I could never really, truly unplug. Absent a decision to live completely off the grid, I must accept some connectivity in my life. And, as an attorney, I must not only accept the networked life, I must embrace it. Our ethical duties require us to do so. Notably, the American Bar Association amended ABA Model Rule 1.1 in 2012 to include technological competence: “To maintain the requisite knowledge and skill, a lawyer should keep abreast of changes in the law and its practice including the benefits and risks associated with technology . . .” See, 2012 Amendment to ABA Model Rule 1.1 Competence, Comment 6, Maintaining Competence as referenced in SDCBA Legal Ethics Opinion 2012-1.
The San Diego County Bar Association, long a leader in the legal ethics space, decided in 2017 to lead in the legal technology space as well. In 2018 we hired one of the first Bar Association Member Technology Officers in the nation — the incomparable Adriana Linares — and launched expert law+tech education. This edition of San Diego Lawyer is dedicated, in part, to helping members become more technologically savvy. But technical competence must not be at the expense of other competencies. And, while indispensable and unavoidable, technology should be in service of what we do as lawyers, not the essence of what we do.
Make Mental Health a Priority
By Christopher W. Todd with a substantial assist from Susan R. Todd Esq. (retired)
Categories : Wellness
Moving Beyond Burnout
By Marta Manus
Life has a funny way of giving us exactly what we need practice in. Nearly nine years into my career as a class action attorney, I burned out big time. Years of living in a constant state of stress reaction mode in a toxic work environment led to multiple ER visits, a prescription for anxiety meds, chronic headaches, and constant muscle pain in my neck and shoulders. Ordinary tasks that used to take me a few hours began taking much longer and I found it increasingly difficult to focus on anything work-related. I was disengaged, disillusioned and dissatisfied. I wasn’t simply having a few bad days, this was serious burnout, and while I knew that something needed to change, I didn’t quite know how or what.
Categories : Wellness
Dealing with the Grind
By Kevin Hambly
So you studied diligently for the bar, passed, and now you are a new lawyer. Now, you find yourself experiencing more anxiety and stress in the practice of law. From a fellow new lawyer to another, here are a few of tips for managing stress. While these tips are not exhaustive (as simple things like adequate sleep, eating, and proper exercise can also help), hopefully these tips will give you some insight on how at least one lawyer, me, manages stress.
Categories : Wellness
Burnout: A Necessary Part of Lawyers’ Lives?
By Randall Christison
Talking to a lawyer-friend recently, one in practice for many years, I asked how he was. “Working harder; enjoying it less.” Far from flippant, he was deadly serious. Everything in his voice and body language suggested he was at the end of his rope. I asked what he does after he leaves his office each day: “home to my networked computer.” In essence he’s in the office many hours and telecommutes the rest. I asked about his résumé, down at the bottom, where we put hobbies and personal information, what did he have there? With a mirthless laugh he responded, “You mean those things I haven’t done in decades? That was a different lifetime.” Maybe more accurately, that “was when I had a life, before the law sucked it out of me.”
Categories : Wellness
Stride, Not Stress, to Success
By Lori Pope
Congratulations, you have picked a career where feeling stressed is the baseline on any given day. This stress does not just affect our physical and mental health, but our ability to perform our duty to represent our clients diligently and competently. As new attorneys, we are learning every day in a field that is constantly changing around us, and we have to constantly adapt while staying on top of our always growing caseload. Not stressful at all.
Categories : Wellness
The Crisis of Purpose in the Legal Profession
By Marta Manus
Purposeful engagement is directly linked to a person’s overall well-being and quality of life. At the Yale School of Management, every MBA student takes a class on purpose at work. Unfortunately, my law school didn’t offer such a class. In fact, law school was primarily focused on creating individuals who “think like lawyers.” How do lawyers think? What are lawyers taught about the legal profession in law school and how is it serving lawyers, the profession, and the world at large?