Review of The Lawyer's Guide to Balancing Life and Work
A positive attitude is a great start to building a more productive workplace, and you should encourage your team to develop ways to bolster individual and group happiness.
Time flies when you’re having fun. It’s hard to believe that on April 1, I began my fifteenth year as NALP’s executive director. Don’t worry. I’m not preparing to say goodbye. But this is something of an au revoir, which literally means “until we see each other again.” The NALP Board of Directors has given me a three-month sabbatical, for which I am incredibly grateful, and I will be on leave for the months of August, September, and October, returning to work on November 1.
President Elect, Alison Ashe-Card, reminds us that Thanksgiving is a season, not just a holiday, and a time “to cherish moments spent with loved ones, appreciate the blessings we have, and share our abundance with those in need.”
Epstein Becker Green’s Karl C. Riehl, 2022-23 NALP President, offers tips for promoting well-being across legal teams and organizations as 2022 draws to a close.
For Health Wellbeing Solutions’ Marla Warner and Clear Concept Inc. President Ann Gomez share tips for NALP members to help improve well-being at law firms and legal organizations.
Too many of us float from day to day or year to year without examining our priorities. We think we know what they are (e.g., family, professional advancement, health), but we often do not bother to rank or weigh them.
Attorneys in all practice settings commonly complain about the lack of balance between their personal lives and professional lives. To help addressing such work-life conflicts, the NALP Foundation conducted a cross-profession study.
Balanced hours programs can have numerous positive effects on a firm's bottom line: decreased costs, improved quality of hiring, increased client satisfaction, development of new business, and increased productivity and morale.
Methods for dealing with the imposter phenomenon or imposter syndrome, including understanding your coping mechanisms, how you respond to failure, starting the conversation and putting yourself out there.
Learn how one law school makes self-care an essential part of its law student PD program.
The results of the Lawyer Perfectionism & Well-Being Survey, an exploratory effort to document perfectionism’s impact on lawyers, paint a stark picture. Lawyers with high perfectionistic tendencies –those who equate mistakes with personal failure – reported stress levels twice as high as their less perfection-driven peers
UNT Dallas College of Law’s Katherine Mikkelson offers tips on career services professionals who are having the relocation conversation with their public service-leaning law students.
Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law’s Ray English outlines five steps for being anti-racist.
Northwestern Pritzker School of Law’s Candace Bergeron shares tips on partnering with law student organizations to promote wellness and well-being.
NALP's Mary Beal reviews the impact of NALP events on the legal careers community over the years in celebration of NALP's 50th Anniversary in 2021.
NALP President Traci Mundy Jenkins of Venable LLP offers tips for improving your well-being in a constantly changing environment, including the COVID-19 pandemic, social and political uncertainty, and natural disasters.
Fox Rothschild’s Jessica Mullen explains why being assertive over your wellness is crucial to surviving the current work climate.
Energetically Efficient Kristin Rowell explains how excess sugar intake can influence your physical and mental well-being.
NALP President Rebecca Calman encourages members to tell their stories to each other even though they may not have cliffhangers. She writes, "Certain chapters may be more exciting than others. That’s okay, I promise they’re still worth sharing!" Also, NALP’s Board of Directors recognizes Andy Hales, Vice President — Professional Development and Training at Venable LLP, with NALP’s Service Excellence Award.
This article stresses the importance of having a strategy to identify, establish, and enforce boundaries to help newer professionals launch long and meaningful careers.
In order to achieve a transformation in well-being, the legal profession should embrace three core principles of listening to your body, honoring and processing your emotions, and measuring success by metrics other than “winning” as a primary goal.
The book, “The Rural Lawyer” seeks to provide information about rural law practice by sharing tips from interviews with 32 young rural lawyers in South Dakota. The aim is to help students who want to pursue a legal career in a rural area with information about compensation, quality of life, workload, mentorship, conflicts, practice areas, and other aspects of a legal career.
EsquireWell’s Kendra Brodin experts Catherine Duncan and Henry Emmons offer tips for incorporating neuroscience into creating programs for lawyers and other professionals who work for legal organizations.
Deborah Epstein Henry's book is reviewed an invaluable, practical handbook, packed with checklists and concrete tips that employer representatives and law school administrators can and should implement.
If you are feeling out of balance, you can dispose of your guilt and shame because balance is a myth. No one can do it all. But here are some tips for maintaining wellness.
Wake Forest University School of Law’s Alison Ashe-Card, University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law’s Molly Stafford, and University of Colorado Law School’s Nicole Netkin-Collins examine the role of well-being in dismantling racism in the legal profession.
Lane Powell PC’s Melissa Berry reviews the book The Law Student’s Guide to Doing Well and Being Well by Shailini Jandial George.
2022-2023 Vice President of Member Services and Education Gwendolyn L. Ferrell explains why active participation of its members is critical to accomplishing the mission and initiatives of NALP.
Over the years, I've tested dozens of anxiety-busting techniques on myself and the legal professionals I train. These three actually deliver: a physical approach, a mindfulness technique, and a cognitive strategy. Each takes less than two minutes. Each can stop anxiety in its tracks.
We are in a profession saturated with hard-working, extremely efficient, reliable people who typically put their jobs first. Here are some tips from other NALP members for avoiding burnout and maintaining a balanced life.
Information on Rest Assured: The Sabbatical Solution for Lawyers
Are Canadian leave policies and benefits a dream come true or a challenge for lawyers who attempt to take extended periods of leave?
These seven suggestions can help you sneak wellness strategies in through the back door.
As a career and professional development coach at a law school near a major military installation and within a stone’s throw of two major medical schools, I have observed that one of the more challenging coaching problems seems to be on the rise: the student who enters law school with a significant other who is either a medical (or other professional) student or military member, whose next career or education requirements will drive the couple’s next chapter. We are good at developing search strategies that get a student to their launch job quickly and effectively, but these “trailing partner” searches involve special circumstances that can s...
As the world changes and seems to be more unpredictable and tumultuous, it is important that we take care of ourselves, so we can better take care of others. In a recent survey of some of our Public Service Section colleagues (who work in myriad positions at their schools), we asked members to share their tips for living a balanced life and staying positive in these crazy times.
EsquireWell Founder and CEO Kendra Brodin defines compassion fatigue and gives legal professionals in law schools and firms strategies to improve their emotional, physical, and occupational well-being in their recruiting and professional development roles.
The conventional wisdom is that lawyers are unhappy with their work. It is certainly true that the legal profession is not particularly known for its attention to well-being and personal growth. The profession is notorious for long hours and hard and often tedious work. Lawyers are also expected to be available to clients at all times. This article explores the sources of dissatisfaction, research from the fields of positive psychology and positive organizational behavior that addresses how to shift the workplace experience, and some real-time suggestions to implement strengths-based strategies in law firms.
COVID-19 will impact future lawyers and associates from Generation Z socially, economically and professionally as the world seeks to recover from the pandemic.
This article addresses how legal professionals, who often deal with complex problems, challenging situations, and high stakes, can integrate the principles of positive psychology to enhance resilience, improve mental health, and foster a more supportive workplace culture.
NALP Director of Public Service Initiatives Sam Halpert reviews Sarah Jaffe’s 2021 book, Work Won’t Love You Back.
Embracing difficulties in life, prioritizing, tackling assignments one by one and celebrating each achievement are methods to increase resilience.
Helping students navigating well-being and mental health issues during crisis situations such as the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.
Going crazy while working at home during the COVID-19 pandemic? Kelly Green offers tips for lawyers and law students to help manage multiple schedules.
University of Ottawa’s Staci Angelis explores the effects of burnout and stress on lawyers and professionals in the legal field.
EsquireWell Founder and CEO Kendra Brodin explains how legal professionals can manage digital distractions using six methods.
One of the most helpful things for me, as I’ve struggled with the seismic changes rippling across the public service legal landscape this year, have been the informal “huddles” NALP’s Public Service Section holds each week. In these conversations, career counselors are focused on unpacking how extraordinary changes in the way the federal government understands issues like discrimination, immigration, and the nature of public service work will affect the prospects of public-service-minded students: Which careers may be qualitatively transformed in all this – either as the nature of the work may shift or as the financial structures that make th...
Bliss seems like a lot to ask of one's job or profession, but bliss is the stated quest for the authors of Finding Bliss: Innovative Legal Models for Happy Clients & Happy Lawyers .
Law firms need to look not only at how they implement flex policies, but also at how those policies and practices are communicated.
Occasionally a report comes along that every NALP member should read. In August, the National Task Force on Lawyer Well-Being published The Path to Lawyer Well-Being: Practical Recommendations for Positive Change (the Path Report), and I believe this is a report that falls in that category. (The report is available for free download from the ABA website.) I had the privilege of being a peer reviewer of an early draft of the report, and am delighted with the breadth, depth, sophistication, and ambition of the final report. I recommend it to you highly.
Whether this year is your first law student recruiting season or your tenth, here are five tips for getting through the season successfully and (hopefully) with minimal impact on your blood pressure.
Do you assist law students or lawyers with mental health challenges? The National Council for Behavioral Health’s Mental Health First Aid training can help.
A new study showed that factors emphasized in law school, such as grades, honors, and potential career income, have comparatively little bearing on lawyer well-being.
EsquireWell’s Kendra Brodin and DueCourse and Aspire’s Kelli Dunaway explain the importance of emotional intelligence when giving and receiving feedback.
Summarizing the key takeaways from the three plenary sessions at the 2022 NALP Annual Education Conference in New Orleans featuring The Yellow House author Sarah M. Broom, former NFL football player Steve Gleason, Thine CEO Sang Lee, and Diversity & Flexibility Alliance President and CEO Manar Morales.
Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP’s Terrene Burke describes the importance of a Wellness Action Plan for legal professionals and how to create one specific to your needs.
NALP Executive Director James G. Leipold says farewell to members following more than 18 years serving as the association’s chief executive.
University of California Irvine School of Law’s Chelsea-Leigh Flucus, the 2021-22 NALP PSJD Fellow, offers observations on continuing the conversation about the positives from remote and hybrid work flexibility.
Since there is little likelihood of achieving balance during times of abnormally high stress at work, the goal should be to reestablish a balanced workday once the stress is resolved.
Asking yourself a series of questions can help determine whether you should increase your time spent on things that allow you to refocus and recharge.
Tips from two PD professionals at McDermott, Will & Henry on mental health initiatives at law firms and the importance of asking the “Wellness Question.”
NALP President Beth Moeller explains how the Danish practice of hygge helps promote well-being for law students and lawyers as 2020 turns to 2021.
EsquireWell Founder and CEO Kendra Brodin defines emotional resilience and gives legal professionals in law schools and firms strategies to improve their emotional, physical, and occupational well-being in their recruiting and professional development roles.
Self-care and wellness are key to thriving in a career as a Public Interest Advocate. The reasoning for this is rather obvious since Public Interest Law Students train to serve the unmet legal and social needs of underserved communities and individuals. This challenging career choice requires healthy advocates who know how to stay well and how to manage stress before it starts managing them.
For us, August means the overlap between the end of the summer program and the beginning of “fall” recruiting, résumé review and call-back scheduling, anxious 2Ls and incoming 1Ls. Many NALPers are put to the test during this season. And even if August isn’t your “testing” season, you certainly have one at some point during the year. Here are some thoughts and tools that have always helped me get through the crunch time.
Through the intentional reframing of our words and the embrace of empowered choices, we can reclaim control over our time and also reshape our mindset to help achieve work-life balance.
Finnegan’s Johnna Story and Optia Consulting’s Jessie Spressart explain the growing relevance of Mental Health First Aid training and certification at law firms.
Next to salaries, one of the most sought after law firm statistical benchmarks is the billable hours requirement.
Leading wellness has more to do with communication and openness than with fitness programs. This article is a source of ideas for valuing wellness not only in their larger organizations but also in the management of their own offices.
NALP is kicking off the celebration of its 50th Anniversary in April 2020, leading to a year-long celebration culminating in the 2021 Annual Education Conference in Scottsdale, Ariz.
Fringe Professional Development Coach and Trainer Katie Aldrich offers steps for talent management professionals to protect their emotional well-being.
NALP President Beth Moeller highlights some of the amazing accomplishments of NALP volunteers since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020.
NALP President Rebecca Calman writes about taking time to reflect both at work and at home. She cites several examples and adds, “If you’re like me, you may find that occasionally slowing down can help you make better decisions, build trust, and improve communication with colleagues, family, and friends.”
The ‘High Performance’ equation is understood as the optimal state in which three elements come together: IQ (intelligence quotient), EQ (emotional quotient), and BQ (body quotient/ intelligence).Developing EQ skills is beneficial in two ways: the first is to retain talent (external benefit), and the second is to reach our own optimal state of performance (internal benefit).
University of Akron School of Law’s Alecia Bencze offers tips for newer professionals in the legal field about how to build their online persona.
Fox Rothschild LLP’s Jessica Jacobs shares takeaways from her professional journey moving from a traditional attorney role into professional development.
New NALP Executive Director Nikia L. Gray outlines her high-level plans to keep the association laser-focused on facts, fairness, and the power of a diverse community.
As legal professionals, we should aim to discuss wellness in terms of supporting people with care responsibilities both as individuals and as workers in a profession that has traditionally undervalued the importance of family and community.
The NALP Foundation released a comprehensive new report on a national cross-profession study of lawyer work-life balance in late September.
University of Akron School of Law’s Alecia Bencze explains how using the strengths of their personal interests can help career services professionals achieve more in their work roles.
Want to learn more about the well-being movement that is fundamentally changing the legal profession? Ogletree Deakins’ Erin McClernon explores the lessons learned from the 2021 Well-Being Week in Law, which takes place annually in May.
Tips for career services staff to help students lead a healthy life and promote well-being and self-advocacy.
What happens when we cannot distinguish between criticism of ideas, and criticism of self? Between judgment of work product or performance, and judgment of one’s self-worth? More broadly, how do we create the conditions for well-being within the profession when we must also uphold high standards of critical rigor? Self-compassion offers a path across this tightrope.
This article examines Stoicism as a way for lawyers to develop a virtuous character. It is meant to be practiced over time, with a virtuous character as the goal. Even if the ideal state is never achieved, Stoicism offers one path toward that goal.
While consultant and former career services administrator, Andy Ceperley’s new book, Tone Setters in the Academy, is explicitly addressed to university administrators, all NALP members, many of whom are middle managers within their schools or legal employers, will find much value here.
McGrath Talent Strategies President Irena McGrath reviews the Ida Abbott book, Retirement by Design: A Guided Workbook for Creating a Happy and Purposeful Future.
Traci Cipriano’s, "The Thriving Lawyer," sets forth a “honeycomb model of well-being,” that encourages the reader to buckle-up and examine several interlocking sources of lawyer stress, including personal perfectionism, access to social supports, and finding one’s purpose, to name a few.
