Practicing Therapeutic Jurisprudence: Law as a Helping Profession.

• Author: Schwartz, Elizabeth F.

9-11 was aptly-dated. It was an urgent wake-up call to all of us. Many of us made grave promises to overhaul our lives and talked about perspective, "what really matters," and honoring our fellow man.

But how many of us can say that we have truly reexamined our priorities and stuck with our plans to be peacemakers? For most, in the months since 9-11, our American flags have begun to sag and tatter, along with the post-attack resolutions and revelations made.

To paraphrase Dan Rather during the marathon coverage just after the tragedy, we must redefine normal. In doing so, we have sat down to meet with our clients in the weeks since, thinking about how we can be better advocates and counselors. We thought about helping to heal and solve their problems without exacerbating them. Sadly, because we went to law school and not lawyer school, we probably did not have the tools to change our approach.

Fortunately for us all, a lifesaver has arrived in the form of a manual that will guide us toward a more-fulfilling and client-centered practice.

Practicing Therapeutic Jurisprudence: Law as a Helping Profession has come to help us stick to those resolutions and make our lives and the lives of our clients immeasurably better. Edited by two law professors and a lawyer, this tome is not just heady theory, but a practical tour through an emerging way to conduct the everyday practice. Whether you are a law student or a judge, in a firm or solo, practicing family or transactional, criminal or litigation, junior or senior counsel, this is a book that you absolutely must read.

The doctrines espoused in the 525-page book are not new -- they are instinctive and part of a quarter-century-old effort to reform the practice of law. The novelty lies in the accessible articulation of principle and application.

Practicing Therapeutic Jurisprudence is the coming-together of the practice of preventive law and the theory of therapeutic jurisprudence. Preventive law emphasizes the importance of being proactive in helping the client get and keep his or her affairs in order to manifest the client's intentions and avoid high costs, such as those associated with litigation. Therapeutic jurisprudence uses an interdisciplinary approach to evaluate how the law can be used to achieve healthful and emotionally satisfying objectives -- it's "the study of law's healing potential."

Lao Tzu writes in the Tao Te Ching that we would be wise to "prevent trouble before it arises. Put...