Building the Positive Law Firm: The Legal Profession at Its Best

The 2008 financial collapse catalyzed sweeping changes in the legal profession that resulted in dwindling work for law firms and client demands for deep price discounts. But most law firms are proceeding as if it were business-as-usual despite significant evidence that their lawyers—plagued by mental health problems and job dissatisfaction—are not ready for the challenges of the future. Positive psychology and positive organizational scholarship—the science of how people and organizations thrive—can help guide law firm leaders to build thriving, positive law firms with engaged lawyers that are primed for the future. There is growing evidence that organizations that adopt a positive approach to business perform better on a broad array of measures, including profitability. This paper aims to outline a framework for building the positive law firm by 1) presenting evidence that the legal profession is not thriving, 2) outlining the evidence-based features that will characterize positive law firms, 3) discussing the substantial evidence suggesting that positive organizations perform better than their less vital counterparts, including on financial measures, 4) discussing the potential for positive law firms to become recruiting magnets for the Millennial generation, and (5) discussing future plans for continuing to build a positive legal profession, including the creation of a law firm well-being index. The future vision is of firms where lawyers feel purpose-driven, full of life, and fulfilled; clients feel well cared-for and valued; and communities are elevated by firms’ contributions

Judges’ Well-Being and the Importance of Meaningful Work

At their swearing-in ceremonies, most judges are filled with a sense of meaning, pride, and happiness after achieving such an honored role. And rightly so. Alexander Hamilton said that “the first duty of society is justice,” and judges play a central role in this epic duty. With this duty, however, comes enormous responsibility—and plenty of pressure. Judges are not always well-prepared to deal with the stressful realities of the job that come after the ceremony and celebrations have ended, including overloaded dockets, heightened public scrutiny, weighty decisions, disturbing evidence, irritating lawyers and litigants, anxiety over time limits and expectations of perfection, threats to safety, social isolation, and more.1 That this onslaught of new pressures does not cause a diagnosable mental health disorder or addiction for many judges does not mean that they are mentally healthy, fully engaged, or thriving. Instead, too many end up feeling isolated, trapped, and burned out. The National Task Force on Lawyer Well-Being recently issued a watershed report—The Path to Lawyer Well-Being: Practical Recommendations for Positive Change—that calls for judges and all of the profession’s stakeholders to prioritize well-being. The report defines well-being as a “continuous process toward thriving across all life dimensions”2 and establishes it as a key contributor to professional competence. In February 2018, the American Bar Association (ABA) House of Delegates endorsed the report through Resolution 105.3 These developments, along with many other initiatives cropping up across the profession, suggest a growing demand for positive changes to support lawyer thriving

Judges’ Well-Being and the Importance of Meaningful Work

At their swearing-in ceremonies, most judges are filled with a sense of meaning, pride, and happiness after achieving such an honored role. And rightly so. Alexander Hamilton said that “the first duty of society is justice,” and judges play a central role in this epic duty. With this duty, however, comes enormous responsibility—and plenty of pressure. Judges are not always well-prepared to deal with the stressful realities of the job that come after the ceremony and celebrations have ended, including overloaded dockets, heightened public scrutiny, weighty decisions, disturbing evidence, irritating lawyers and litigants, anxiety over time limits and expectations of perfection, threats to safety, social isolation, and more.1 That this onslaught of new pressures does not cause a diagnosable mental health disorder or addiction for many judges does not mean that they are mentally healthy, fully engaged, or thriving. Instead, too many end up feeling isolated, trapped, and burned out. The National Task Force on Lawyer Well-Being recently issued a watershed report—The Path to Lawyer Well-Being: Practical Recommendations for Positive Change—that calls for judges and all of the profession’s stakeholders to prioritize well-being. The report defines well-being as a “continuous process toward thriving across all life dimensions”2 and establishes it as a key contributor to professional competence. In February 2018, the American Bar Association (ABA) House of Delegates endorsed the report through Resolution 105.3 These developments, along with many other initiatives cropping up across the profession, suggest a growing demand for positive changes to support lawyer thriving