The Mindfulness Blog

Big surprise-- the former lawyer is me. And I applaud those who are doing their best to address the situation, but I know there is a lot more to be done-- there is a lot more that must be done!

To the law firms who have already engaged officers to take charge of wellbeing I say, please give them a meaningful budget and staff to support their initiatives-- please support them. To law firms that have yet to engage an officer to take charge of wellbeing I say, please do so-- the announcement/rollout will be well received by both professionals and staff!

Recognize a growing movement now or recognize it later. In either event, lagging firms (or other legal institutions) will ultimately have little choice, and early adopters will have benefitted significantly-- that's social engineering 101. Early and aggressive adopters will flourish, and later adopters will be seen for what they truly are-- not serious players.

So, how can smaller firms compete with large firms, in the wellbeing market? Maybe two or three firms can joint venture and engage a group director who they can share-- and by doing so, start a grassroots movement that begins to move the lawyer wellbeing needle?

For as long as I can recall, big firms have led the legal profession-- in perception, if not in fact. That's not to say there weren't plenty of excellent lawyers in smaller firms, but the "bounce" that many lawyers got from associating with a big firm seemed to tip the balance, more often than not.

In today's world-- and specifically speaking of the lawyer wellbeing crisis-- that's not necessarily the case. It certainly needn't be!