Increasingly, we in the legal profession are getting slapped in the face with scary statistics. Attorneys are significantly more likely to suffer from depression, problem drinking or drug use, and anxiety than other professionals. Attorneys in the first 10 years of practice are at even higher risk. What once was viewed as a helping profession has become a profession that needs help.
Law firm managers are saddled with the dual responsibility of keeping their attorneys productive and happy while at the same time satisfying the increasing demands of clients who want to spend less money but get more services and personal attention. Managing a law firm has many challenges trying to meet these competing demands. Law firms want and need to keep their attorneys happy, productive, and healthy. Doing so is essential to law firm vitality as well as viability.
While most law firm managers are often focused on dealing with legal issues and client satisfaction, they have less time to deal with the complex and often confidential personal issues of their staff. The challenge is especially great when considering factors such as embarrassment, isolation, pressure to perform, or stigma that can prevent such issues from coming to the surface. That’s why so many attorneys try to push them down and out of sight.
As a member of this most honorable and challenging profession, I can
say that one’s mental state matters a lot. And it fluctuates greatly from moment to moment in a fast-paced legal environment. It seems that as soon as you get a pat on the back from one partner or client you’re just as likely to get a smack in the face from another. Multiply that by the tens, hundreds, or thousands of attorneys working in a firm and you can see why some managing partners would rather run out of the building with their hair on fire than to have to spend their valuable time trying to sort through all of that anxiety and stress.
Fortunately, there are tried and true techniques that attorneys, including firm managers, can learn to improve their mental state while positively impacting their health and performance at the same time. Reducing stress, freeing up the imagination, communicating better with others, feeling good about themselves, and avoiding burnout are all effectively addressed with tools that have been around for centuries.
Attorneys who are at their best are a positive influence on those around them, including colleagues and clients. Healthy, happy attorneys are the gateway to a law firm that thrives in any environment.
Because I have been a practicing attorney for many years, I am deeply familiar with the most vexing issues affecting those in the profession. I am also aware of the need for flexibility and speed in any commitment an attorney or manager has to make beyond the work to be done, so I have focused on delivering the best results in the swiftest most accommodating manner possible. My methods provide not only fast relief but also long-lasting positive changes that affect attorneys on a deeply personal and satisfying level.
Concepts like mindfulness, imagery, resiliency, meditation, and others get tossed around like so many buzzwords. The fact is, we attorneys are subject to stress from clients and colleagues. We put stress on ourselves. And, the nature of what we do is inherently stressful. It would be a little bit weird if we didn’t feel somehow – stressed. But letting that stress translate into harmful behaviors and negative patterns or ignoring them until they bubble over isn’t good for us or our firm.
If you know these issues are affecting you or your firm and you’d like some help getting a handle on it don’t let it continue to create an undercurrent that can damage morale and effectiveness. I can provide you with actionable information you need to positively impact your own health or the health of your attorneys and the vitality of your firm.
I use personalized tools to optimize your or your law firm’s performance. This will help you or your attorneys and staff members gain a deeper commitment, heighten personal satisfaction, release distracting tensions, and improve overall well-being. Every personalized program fits the demands of your practice, your life, or your firm’s schedule.
Don’t wait until stress drags you under. Let me teach you or your firm how to kick stress to the curb and enjoy the practice of law again.
Check out my Stress Buster and other programs or if you want to discuss your specific needs or the needs of your law firm send an email to me at [email protected].