Law is a varied, powerful, and highly rewarding profession. Studies show, however, that lawyers have higher rates of alcoholism, divorce, and even suicide than the general population. Stress creates these poor outcomes, including the stress of dealing with other people's problems all day, the stress of spending excessive amounts of time at work, and the stress of being disconnected to what is most meaningful in life. Through mindfulness and emotional intelligence training, lawyers can improve focus, get more work done in less time, improve their interpersonal skills, and seek and find work that will make their lives more meaningful. This book is designed to help law students and lawyers of all experience levels find a sustainable and meaningful life in the field of law. This book includes journaling and other interactive exercises that can help lawyers find peace, focus, meaning, and happiness over a lifetime of practicing law.
- Develops the idea of the 'little pause', where we ask students to pause briefly and think about something
- Explains the 'law pause', in which students take a bit more time, and write a journal entry on the topic
- Proposes mindful breathing exercises and simple meditation techniques
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Reviews & endorsements
'Saying that you are a lawyer says something about what you do for a living, but little about who you are as a person. Who am I? What do I need to thrive? What actually makes me happy? How can I bring out my best and manage my worst? These important questions are rarely asked in law school or the practice of law, yet the ability to ask and ultimately answer questions like these defines the difference between lawyers who find their way in life and those who do not. In her new book, Nathalie Martin provides thoughtful, practical ways to develop yourself from the inside out, drawing on deep experience working with the practices of emotional intelligence, mindfulness, self-awareness, and, yes, law. Lawyers need thoughtful, caring, perspicacious guides for making more of what we have, and in Nathalie Martin we have one.' Michael Melcher, Executive Coach, Partner in the firm Next Step Partners, and author of The Creative Lawyer
'This heartfelt and much-needed book is a tour-de-force resource that should immunize law students from anxiety, learned pessimism, mindlessness, stress, and becoming legal zombies. It is a gift to the legal profession and society. It contains many practical gems and lessons about how to be happy and socially responsible legal professionals.' Peter H. Huang, DeMuth Chair of Business Law, University of Colorado Law School
'Just as the legal profession is finally appreciating the importance of non-cognitive skills that are not typically taught in law school classrooms, Nathalie Martin's wonderful new book arrives to lay a foundation for those essential skills. This book is a must-read for every lawyer and should be a part of every law school curriculum. Better still, read this book before you go to law school, and you will have a big head start in your legal education.' Todd D. Peterson, George Washington School of Law
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Product details
- Date Published: July 2018
- format: Hardback
- isbn: 9781107147478
- length: 278 pages
- dimensions: 236 x 156 x 20 mm
- weight: 0.52kg
- contains: 28 b/w illus.
- availability: Available
Table of Contents
Introduction
Part I. Nurturing Your Best Self:
1. Gaining self-awareness
2. Introduction to mindfulness
3. Managing energy, time, and physical space for happy and healthy efficiency
4. The lawyer in society: popular culture images of lawyers and your self image
5. Lawyer skill sets: what we have, what we need
6. Building your professional identity
7. Lawyer resilience
8. Mindfulness theory and practice
Part II. You and Others Around You:
9. Emotional intelligence basics: theory and practice
10. Advanced emotional intelligence
11. Emotional intelligence on the page: the writer's life
12. Giving and receiving feedback
13. Empathy
14. Cross-cultural lawyering
15. Making mindful, client-centered decisions
Part III. You and Society: Finding Greater Purpose:
16. Purpose, creativity, happiness, and the practice of law
17. Responsibility to society, professional identity, and access to justice
18. Gratitude.
Look Inside
Author
Nathalie Martin, University of New Mexico School of Law
Nathalie Martin is the Frederick M. Hart Chair in Consumer and Clinical Law at University of New Mexico School of Law, where she teaches commercial and consumer law, as well as mindfulness and professional development. As a long-time yoga and meditation teacher, Nathalie is part of a growing movement to teach mindfulness and emotional intelligence in the law school classroom. This movement makes explicit that the interpersonal side of lawyering is critical and that many lawyers need help finding purpose or meaning in their work. Nathalie is the author of dozens of books and articles, including Yoga for Lawyers: Mind-Body Techniques to Feel Better All the Time (2015, with Hallie Love).