Lifestyle

Does Mindfulness Enhance the Study and Practice of Law?

Posted on by Christina Smith

By Rhonda V. Magee* on November 14, 2023

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Introduction

In her blog, Seeking Serenity, When Lawyers Go Zen, author Amanda Enayati reflects on an interview with U.S. Supreme Court Justice, Stephen Breyer, in which the Justice briefly discussed a practice that supports him in maintaining his physical wellbeing and provides a background resource for his demanding work at the highest level of the legal profession.[1]

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From Obstacle to Opportunity: Strategies to Enhance Happiness in the Practice of Law

Posted on by Kirkman Ridd

By Judge Lynn Duryee* on March 7, 2023

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Introduction

The practice of law is hard. The workload, long hours, demanding clients, competition—all hard. Being a judge is not quite as hard, yet it has its challenges too: vexatious litigants, extreme isolation, courthouse politics, and the ethical mandate to act with dignity and courtesy at all times—a feat achievable only by superheroes, in my opinion. The time when dissatisfied family law litigants initiated a recall campaign against me—that was a rough patch. And yet, after forty-two years in the law, I am still energized and excited by my chosen career.

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Lifestyle Balancing: Queerness and the Practice of Law

Posted on by Kirkman Ridd

By Slater Stanley* on January 6, 2023

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Introduction

To find your place within a system you need to understand it, and yourself in relation to it. The purpose of such an evaluation might be productivity, survival, comfort, power, or a combination thereof. Growing up in a conservative environment as a queer[1] child without queer role models, I am not unfamiliar with suppressing characteristics and desires that feel natural to me to fit more neatly within hegemonic heteronormative[2] expectations. I applied to undergraduate universities—and later law schools—with this in mind: I want to be somewhere socially liberal.

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