Better Law Practice Through Better People Management
Mindful of Rev. King’s exhortation to leaven power with love, remember the Doonesbury character Woodrow proclaiming “By God, I love the law!” Well, there’s a perspective afoot in the legal industry that may take that sentiment and turn it on its head. It sounds something like “the law is all about love!”
According to an…
Muir presented a Webinar September 12, 2013 to members of the Organization of Legal Professionals on “Crying Happens: Managing Emotions in the Office” tailored to recognizing and managing the emotional challenges in a legal office. Comments included “wonderful” and “good stuff!”
Ronda Muir of Law People Management LLC, Randall Kiser of DecisionSet, and Daniel S. Bowling III of Duke Law School will be co-presenting a Center for Competitive Management audio presentation on Wednesday, June 13, 2012 at 2pm EDT entitled "Lawyering with Emotional Intelligence." The presentation will cover the relatively new science of emotional intelligence, its relationship to…
Lawyers suffer from a high rate of depression–the highest of all professions–and the peak time for depression to hit is around the holidays. Add to that the stress that many are feeling now over the economy and whether they will have a job come the first of the year, and you have a recipe for poor…
The rate of depression among lawyers is widely recognized as a multiple–in some studies a double-digit multiple–of the rate of depression in the general population and also in other professions. This rate is high by the second semester of law school and only escalates over time.
There has been speculation as to whether depression in lawyers is a condition…
One can’t review the data showing the magnitude of mental illness, substance abuse and other indices of distress in lawyers without thinking of the lawsuit that, with apologies to Lord Alfred Douglas, no one dares speak about but is certain to come.
There are all sorts of scenarios that could prompt it. An associate will commit suicide or a partner…
How stressed-out are you feeling today? A UK study has concluded that 10 AM on Tuesdays is the peak period of stress during a lawyer’s work week, and that 47% of lawyers carry their stress home from work, "leading them to drink (every now and then)."
That may be an understatement. Data from around the world…
The Grant Study is an extraordinary longitudinal study undertaken in the late 1930s to shed light on "the urgent question of how to live well." As participants, a group of 268 (male) Harvard College sophomores, including John F. Kennedy and Ben Bradlee, were chosen for showing particular promise.
An article interestingly entitled "What Makes Us Happy?" in the June 2009 issue of…
In the current stressful marketplace, the rate of lawyers’ incidence of impairment has been ratcheting up from high (see, for example, our September 5, 2008 entry "The Depression Demon Coming Out of the Legal Closet") to even higher. See "Employment Woes Fuel Uptick in Lawyer Depression." Firms suffer losses in productivity, morale and…
This is the time of year when many of us take stock of our direction and goals and make plans to step up our effectiveness. This particular year, 2009, many lawyers are facing an extremely difficult once-in-a-century marketplace for which no one has been truly prepared. So we may also find ourselves questioning our ability to successfully grapple with the challenges ahead.
How to acquire…