The Mindfulness Blog

Actually, it hasn't been four score and seven months since I first wrote a piece supporting lawyer wellbeing, but it sure feels like it's been a long time-- I attribute that to the fact that response in the legal profession has been so slow. And so anemic.

Concededly, there have been blips of activity and plenty of virtue signaling, but the profession continues to be what many people refer to as a "slow adopter". In fact, progress has been downright glacial. I wish I could click my heels and change all that, but it seems there is little that can be done to speed things up.

Of course, the pandemic and related office/work challenges didn't help, but one can't lean too hard on that crutch, to explain what appears to be a largely profession-wide aversion to meaningful action in addressing the growing concern of lawyer wellbeing-- and that's a shame. It's a shame because it has caused (and will continue to cause) many women and men to abandon the profession in favor of other livelihoods.

Equally shameful is the condition of many of those women and men-- both physical and mental-- that apparent indifference to wellbeing has caused. Some leave the profession before any long-term damage is done, but some do not. And even with the assistance of trained third-party providers the damage sustained while employed by the legal profession, persists.

International and domestic conflict will continue to distract peoples' attention but the drip, drip, drip of burnout, attrition and loss will eventually cause the profession to alter it's priorities. Until then, future generations of workers-- and lawyers, in particular-- will continue to be grist for the mill.

Maybe law firms will finally understand that a genuine effort to address lawyer wellbeing today, will benefit not only lawyers today, but also, lawyers four score and seven years in the future!