The Wake Up Call for Lawyers

Joy. In those midnight hours, staring at a screen, it can feel so illusive. There might be a sweet FB pic of a friend or a kid, or the moon might be rising right outside the window, but how to import those moments of sweetness, of joy, into the everyday (or every night) grind of the law? It really is possible but - you might have noticed - it's not our default mode. In fact, being a pessimist...

With everything expected of us as practicing lawyers; and as teachers, parents, children, siblings, partners, and citizens of the world...with everything we take on, how can we have enough energy for mindfulness? How can we reasonably expect to have energy left for anything else at all? I don't know. But what I do know, or notice, is that the energy I put into mindfulness, if it’s joyful,come...

These amazing legal minds. What if we spent some time investigating them? Taking the next step: mindfulness, then investigation. What could we discover?  We could discover unwholesome qualities:anger, or jealousy; laziness, or resentment. Simple enough, if we do – we just abandon those wholesome qualities. (Simple but not easy?) Or we could discover a cache of wholesomeness: That there’s so much l...

What does it look like, to be mindful of our own minds?  What if we have no idea what we're thinking, or even that we're thinking? Or no idea what emotion we're experiencing, or even that we're experiencing one? It's interesting, because whether or not we're mindful, our thoughts and emotions are informing our words and actions ("informing," or infusing or d...

Here's an interesting mindfulness note: when we're awake, whatever we're doing, whether it's seeing or hearing or thinking or feeling, on subtle and not-so-subtle levels we're either enjoying the moment, not enjoying it, or not caring. Generally, if we're enjoying the moment we want it to last (I'm thinking of a delicious meal or a moment of triumph). If we'...

We’re all aware of a beautiful sunset when we’re out at the beach, watching. We may even know that our eyes are seeing, as the sun dips below the horizon, that our ears are hearing, as the waves crash on the shore, that the sand in our hands is cold, or warm, or damp. But are we aware of the deeper dimensions of mind? Are we aware of that small voice that says, “I should do this more often. I shou...

This world, or my world anyway, is full of messages about how I can become a better person. In a way, mindfulness has fallen into that trap, too. But what if we don’t need to become better people? What if everything we need to live joyfully and safely, in peace, and free, is already embedded deep in our consciousness, just waiting to be noticed and breathed to life?  In a world filled with so much...

There are so many “good” reasons why I keep my distance. Some of them have to do with being professional. Some have to do with not wanting to be tainted. Some are just about being lazy. In my experience, it takes effort to get in close. To see people in all of their distress and wholeness, sorrow and joy, grief and celebration. It takes effort but it’s effort that’s worthy and wholesome and probab...

Another shooting. Another war. Another moment of sorrow and grief. Another moment of wondering why. And another moment of us – the lawyers -  advising, representing, prosecuting. Doing our jobs. Is there room for sorrow? Is there room for grief? Is it even useful? How can we live with it, and how can we live without it?

What if the perfection of wisdom is bigger than clarity and insight and interconnection? What if it’s bigger than not causing harm? What if the perfection of wisdom is understanding that not only are we – lawyers, clients, opponents, and all – impossibly and irrevocably linked by some great invisible chain, but also, or more so, worthy of each other’s care, and empathy, and love?  As Hafiz says, “...

One of the easiest commitments to agree to, and hardest for me to keep, Is to do no harm. Somehow, built into this lawyer-persona, is this drive to be clear and concise, to be right, and to win. Which unfortunately, too often, ends up doing the opposite, or nearly, of not causing harm. It raises the question, for me: can lawyers practice (or live) with a commitment to doing no harm? Would it put o...

When I think of wisdom, I tend to think of the things I’ve learned and know. But wisdom from a mindfulness perspective is different. Mindfulness says that wisdom is about realizing we’re going to hit bumps in the road and that’s ok, hard times (and good times) aren’t forever and that's ok, too,and even though we keep turning our hearts and minds towards kindness, generosity, patience, and com...

Intention determines cause and effect (karma): whatever we intend, whether we know our intention or not, determines what we say and do. Which in turn determines whether we create suffering or peace in each moment. In this way, the ancient texts say, we are the authors and heirs of our karma. What if we could pay attention closely enough to see, before we said or did anything, just what our intenti...

What is sacred about the law? I think there’s a tendency – and I’m as guilty of it as anyone – to point out the flaws in the legal system, especially in the U.S. And even to say that it’s broken, maybe irrevocably. But what if we imagine the law as sacred? What if we recollect, maybe not in our memory but in our bones, how many generations – how many millennia – humans have been puzzling out how t...

Nearing the winter solstice,the shortest day of the year, the invitation is to settle the mind & body. When we do that, we can attend to the deep wisdom that resides in our own hearts, and remember that we practice like this – and experience all the difficulties of life as well – not as individuals, but together. Not different, not separate.

Do we really have to sit for six or twelve or twenty or thirty minutes a day, in silence, paying attention to our breath? Can’t we just pay attention while we’re doing something else, too, like riding a bike or cooking a meal - something a little more fun? Why can’t we be multi-tasking meditators?

When all is said & done, and we’ve sat with the 10,000 joys and 10,000 sorrows so many times that the commentary has run its course, what can we do but be grateful? Grateful for the law, and that our democracy held up one more time. Grateful for whatever bounty we have. Grateful for whatever peace we have. And, grateful for seeing, over and over, that this being human isn’t easy; that all diff...

Sometimes I think, if only I could say more, do more, work harder, then I could really be helpful. Then I could offer whatever I have in the way of wisdom, compassion, and maybe actually make a difference. It’s not always easy to remember that all this work we do – supporting clients, students, colleagues, family, friends: if we're doing that work with joy, with irrepressibility, as Norman Fi...

What time do you get up to meditate? Maybe not 5am, but I do remember, maybe 25 years ago, a teacher saying to me, “the decision to meditate happens the night before, when you set your alarm thirty minutes early to get up and sit.” I feel like that’s still so true for me, today. But not as if it’s an obligation! Because what can we really accomplish when we approach our practice with reluctance or...

Patience is great, in principle, but what happens when things are fast & furious (literally)? Mindfulness helps. When I’m paying attention and not judging myself, I remember to watch for anger, frustration, rage. I remember to turn towards them and get interested, While keeping my fingers off of the keys. Sometimes, I even remember I don’t need to win every point. I have no idea what would hap...

Sometimes it feels like the perfect storm, clouds opening up, rain drenching me to my bones, and me, shaking my fist at the sky…or at some sarcastic colleague or maniacal politician.  Every once in a while, though, I have the patience to simply observe. Not at my own risk and not risking anyone else’s safety or case, but just because there’s enough patience to be with whatever is happening, and no...

What place does patience have in a busy world? And in a busy profession? Do lawyers even have time for patience? Maybe, if we think about patience differently. Patience, not as in waiting for your associate to complete a project or your assistant to return from vacation, but patience as in turning towards anger, frustration, dismay. Patience, not in the sense of waiting at all, but in the sense of...

Scary times, if you’re paying attention. Easy to give up on kindness, easy to prefer a good show, a good beach, a nice rock to hide under.  Meanwhile we lawyers – we have a lot of power: The power to influence others, the power to create big shifts in society. And mindful lawyers, those of us practicing the cultivation of wisdom and compassion? We have even more influence, when we connect with oth...

Ethics Are Impossible Where There's No Justice If you ask yourself the question, “How shall I live?”, what do you hear in response? And whom do you hear it from? It’s a powerful question, maybe the most powerful. A question as old as time.  Zen Master Suzuki Roshi answered it by saying, “Wake up! Life is transient, swiftly passing. Be aware the great matters. Don’t waste time.” How about Suzu...

Do the rules of ethics apply to everyone? Do they apply to everyone in the same way, and to the same degree? Should they?  How can we contemplate the perfection of ethical conduct or even generosity, when our bellies or hearts are empty? And what responsibility do those of us have,whose hearts and bellies are full?