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You need not be a Spiritual Advocate to learn something new and
improve your own law practice. If you are like many lawyers, you
often wonder what happened to the feeling of fulfillment and satisfaction
you used to experience when you first started the law practice.
Are those moments becoming fewer and farther between the longer
you have practiced law? Have you forgotten why you became a lawyer
in the first place?
So what can you do
to find more meaning in your work? This page is a resource for lawyers
in the hope of making your professional life even just a bit more satisfying.
To be helpful, this page must be interactive so your ideas, feedback,
and input are essential.
Lawyer Dissatisfaction
Steven Keeva, in his book Transforming Practices, Finding Joy
and Satisfaction in the Legal Life, writes about the beast we
are facing in lawyer dissatisfaction:
Sadly, the most compelling story today is told not in words,
but in the hauntingly articulate language of illness and dysfunction.
Dissatisfaction wears many faces-these days, far too many-and
those faces are looking increasingly desperate.
At the law school level, school-supplied psychologists are seeing
a disturbingly high incidence of students who suffer from debilitating
levels of stress, accompanied by feelings of alienation and low
self-esteem, along with such physical ailments as insomnia and
digestive problems. Many report chronic fear of humiliation and
the feeling that it isn't safe to talk about anything personal
or "real" with classmates.
In the world of law practice, it only gets worse. Studies show
that one of every four lawyers suffers from psychological distress
of some kind. The most common complaints include feelings of inadequacy
and inferiority in relationships, as well as anxiety, social alienation,
and isolation.
A California study showed a majority of lawyers saying that if
they had a chance, they would not become lawyers again, and well
over half said they would not recommend law as a career to their
own children.
The figures on substance abuse are no less alarming. While 15
to 18 percent of the nation's lawyers abuse alcohol or drugs,
the number in the population at large is 10 percent. According
to some statewide studies, substance abuse is a factor in up to
75 percept of disciplinary complaints involving lawyers.
Perhaps the most troubling findings, however, come from a Johns
Hopkins University study that looked at the incidence of depression
among members of 105 different occupations. Lawyers topped the
list. Depression can be a precursor to physical illness and-at
its worst-suicide, so its underlying causes are worth exploring.
So what are the causes
of lawyer dissatisfaction? Keeva continues:
One explanation comes from the work of Victor Frankl, a pathbreaking
psychiatrist and author of Man's Search for Meaning.
After spending three years in Nazi concentration camps, Frankl,
a Viennese Jew, emerged with one overriding question: What was
it that made some prisoners give in to despair and sometimes suicide
while others not only survived but even found moments of joy amid
the suffering? He found that hose who could find meaning in their
agony were the ones who survived or even thrived in spite of the
inhumanity of their surroundings. For Frankl, the search for meaning
in life is the primary human motivation.
Clearly, there is no comparison to be made between the contemporary
legal profession and Nazi death camps, nor is any intended. But
the lesson regarding the vital role of a personal sense of meaning
may be instructive, for too many lawyers have lost this sense
in their careers.
It is essential to be clear about where people find meaning in
their lives. No matter how times change, the list of enduring
sources remains essentially the same:
Relationships
Giving back to society ·
Creating something that endures ·
Possessing a sense of divinity, holiness, or awe ·
Being in love
Working productively ·
Suffering
What these sources of meaning have in common is that they all,
to varying degrees, suggest a coming together of the outer world
and inner life, each being enriched to the extent that a deep
inner engagement is brought to the experience. Relationships,
for example, are most meaningful when you bring your deepest feelings
and capacity for openness to them. So, too, for contributing to
society, where the truest and most satisfying experience of giving
is always that which is a true expression of one's inner self.
Suffering over a painful event is a particularly good example
of how the inner and outer selves come together to create meaning.
The same external event will have a different meaning for everyone
who experiences it, depending at least partly on the depth and
vitality of an individual's inner life.
So how can we transform
our law practice to meet our inner, or spiritual, needs? Or is this even
possible? Is it desirable? Only you can answer that question for yourself.
But if you feel like your work lacks meaning and significance, you might
start searching within yourself for the answer why.
Personally, I feel
that law makes a significant impact on the moral and ethical aspects of
the human race. I, therefore, believe that we attorneys can make a truly
meaningful contribution to humanity through our practice of law. Moreover,
given that clients are often in a state of legal crisis when they come
through our doors, we have the opportunity to facilitate a spiritual solution
for them if we allow the issue to be managed in a more holistic, instead
of purely mechanical, way. In these ways I know we can make a difference.
You too can experience this shift in consciousness and bring your clients
and yourself a more fulfilling and empowering way to resolve legal
issues. You don't need to be "spiritual" - all you need
is to look inside, find your spirit, bring it to the office each
day and offer it up to your clients. I would be more than honored
to assist you in making your transformation. Feel free to e-mail
me via the "Contact" page.
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