Advocacy. How to Cross-Train for Peak Lawyering

• Author: Heidi K. Brown
• Pages: 26-28

Growing up, I never thought

of myself as an athlete. I

dreaded gym class. I still

have nightmares about

the Presidential Physical Fitness Test:

those sit-ups, that exed arm hang, the

600-yard dash. During my undergrad-

uate and law school years, I reluctantly

played intramural softball, cajoled onto

the eld by enthusiastic classmates.

Skittish after taking a foul ball to the

chin, I inched every time anyone

hurled the ball toward me. Nonethe-

less, I always rather envied the students

known as scholar-athletes—those who

excelled in class and on the eld.

Sports and tness seeped into my life

slowly. At my rst law rm, partners

and associates often jogged outdoors

together during lunch. I remember

gasping for air running up a hill while

updating a partner on the status of our

latest discovery requests. We worked

hard, billed copious hours and clocked

many miles. Over the last decade, I

edged into the New York City spinning

craze and now train twice a week with

a boxing coach.

As I wrap my hands and slide on

my gloves, I nally feel like a “real”

athlete. I feel strong, motivated, formi-

dable and healthy(ier)—mentally, phys-

Practice Matters

ADVOCAC Y

How to Cross-Train

for Peak Lawyering

Let’s mend our profession by exploring the mental and the physical

BY HEIDI K. BROWN

ically and emotionally. And it’s gotten

me thinking.

What if I had treated myself like a

“real” scholar-athlete when I was a

stressed-out, anxious and fearful junior

associate?

Our profession is making great

strides to commit to lawyer well-being

initiatives. Yet some law ofce manag-

ers and junior attorneys wonder how

to realistically approach matters of

mental, physical and emotional health

while balancing real expectations about

productivity, 24/7 accessibility, substan-

tive rigor, perfectionism and high-stakes

results. In constructing well-being

initiatives that improve lives and are

good for business, what if we started to

think of ourselves as scholar-athletes or

scholar-performers?

Athletes and performers do not just

focus on the talent or skill that draws

glory on the eld or the stage, such as

the ability to throw, catch, hit or kick

a ball; the facility to execute a triple

ip off a balance beam or on the ice;

edited by

BLAIR CHAVIS & LIANE JACKSON

blair.chavis@americanbar.org

liane.jackson@americanbar.org

Photo illustration by Brenan Sharp/Shutterstock

ABA JOURNAL | APRIL–MAY 2020

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