Mindfulness Resources for Lawyers
| Publication year | 2022 |
| Pages | 20 |
Legal Research Corner
Mindfulness Resources for Lawyers
BY NICK HARRELL
To close out 2022, this month's Legal Research Corner breaks from its traditional format to bring you resources for learning about, developing, and maintaining your own mindfulness practice. While plenty of mindfulness resources exist, this article is designed to help you, the legal professional, understand the benefits of mindfulness as it relates to the law.
Many discussions of mindfulness begin with meditation expert Jon Kabat Zinn's understanding that mindfulness is "paying attention in a particular way: on purpose, in the present moment, and nonjudgmentally."[1]A common, although not exclusive, way to practice mindfulness involves meditation.[2] To that end, many of the resources in this article involve meditation.
Mindfulness Benefits to Legal Professionals
Learning about the benefits of mindfulness is a great way to motivate yourself and your colleagues to set aside time for it. Legal academics have published numerous articles on the benefits of mindfulness practices for law students, practitioners, and judges. Here are a few that I've found especially helpful.
"Calming Down and Waking Up," by Charity Scott and Paul Verhaeghen, describes the results of the authors' study on the effects of mindfulness training on law students.[3] The article reports results from empirical studies they led using quantitative and qualitative analysis. Specifically, the authors find that mindfulness practices reduce stress and improve focus, resilience, self-compassion, and overall well-being.
Both the American Bar Association National Task Force on Lawyer Well-Being and the Colorado Supreme Court Task Force on Lawyer Well-Being have released reports focusing on the legal profession's need to improve the health and well-being of its lawyers.[4] The reports explain that well-being is an indispensable part of a lawyer's duty of competence and make recommendations for improving lawyer well-being, including through meditation.
"Mindful Mediation," by Brian Pappas, explains how the author's mindfulness practice has enhanced his mediation practice.[5] For example, Pappas says that practicing mindfulness before and during a mediation improves his listening abilities and facilitates communication. He notes that the key to being a good mediator is "to have an engaged, focused attention; something mindfulness is especially helpful in developing."[6]
"Mindfulness and Judging," by former federal judge Jeremy Fogel, focuses on mindfulness benefits to the judiciary. A mindfulness practice, says Judge Fogel, can help judges attend to repetitive tasks, limit unconscious bias, and improve courtroom demeanor.[7] Former Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer agrees, outlining in "Seeking Serenity" how meditation has positively impacted his health and work.[8]
A few other recommended articles on mindfulness benefits to practitioners are:
• "The Contemplative Lawyer," by Leonard L. Riskin,[9]
• "Mindfulness, Law and Reciprocal Practice," by Scott Rogers,[10]
• "The Way of Colorinsight," by Rhonda V. Magee (the appendix to this article contains a thorough list of mindfulness practices),[11]
• "Mindfulness in Legal Ethics and Professionalism," by Peter H. Huang,[12] and
• "Capitalizing on Healthy Lawyers," by Jarrod F. Reich.[13]
To expand your research further, visit Google Scholar, https://scholar.google.com, and enter your desired keywords in the search field. To find articles that don't require a login, simply click the "All X versions" link beneath the title of the article.
Putting It into Practice
Ready to transition from reading about meditation to developing a meditation practice? The following resources are a great way for legal professionals to get started.
The Mindfulness in Law Society[14] hosts free guided meditation sessions twice a week via Zoom...
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