Wellness and Balance
Healthy lawyers make healthy practices: LAWPRO’s support for mental health and wellness resources
Mental health challenges in the legal profession are often ignored, stigmatized, and untreated. This not only leads to poorer quality of life for lawyers and their families, it is a contributing cause of many malpractice claims. This is why, for over a decade, LAWPRO and the Law Society of Ontario have co-funded wellness and mental… Read More »
Categories: Wellness and Balance, Risk Management & Claims PreventionNew York Times feature “The Lawyer, The Addict”
The New York Times has published an excellent article called “The Lawyer, The Addict” about a lawyer who succumbed to a secret drug addiction and his ex-wife’s attempts to piece together how he could maintain a successful legal career while hiding his problems right to the very end. The article explores the toll drugs and… Read More »
Categories: Wellness and BalanceKeeping up with the Joneses (or not)
Young lawyers often talk about the stress and burden of debt. If there is one piece of advice worth giving, it is a simple one: spend less than you earn. As a new lawyer, I was excited when I received my first paycheque. I forget what I spent it on, but I remember it disappeared… Read More »
Categories: Biggest Claims Risks, Risk Management Strategies, Career Management, Wellness and Balance, Law Practice Management“Putting your best brain forward”: Strive for self-awareness
This is the one of seven strategies that you can follow to help you apply the emerging lessons of neuroscience and evolutionary psychology to the day-to-day work of your practice, as explained in the article Putting your best brain forward: How neuroscience awareness and evolutionary psychology can help lawyers avoid claims and offer better client… Read More »
Categories: Risk Management Strategies, Wellness and Balance“Putting your best brain forward”: Nourish your brain
This is the one of seven strategies that you can follow to help you apply the emerging lessons of neuroscience and evolutionary psychology to the day-to-day work of your practice, as explained in the article Putting your best brain forward: How neuroscience awareness and evolutionary psychology can help lawyers avoid claims and offer better client… Read More »
Categories: Risk Management Strategies, Wellness and BalanceWellness & Balance: Are you a “maximizer” or a “satisficer”?
The last time you bought a house or searched for a rental apartment, how did you choose, and how did you feel about your choice afterward? Psychologists studying the relationship between how we make choices and our life satisfaction have found that those who put the greatest effort into making choices are rewarded with less… Read More »
Categories: Wellness and BalanceHow unhealthy lawyers affect client service
Almost all lawyers experience stress, but unless it becomes toxic, there is little risk to the client. Occasionally things get truly out of control. That’s when important deadlines are missed, communication with the client diminishes (or ends), and files languish. In extreme cases, the lawyer ‘pretends’ to practice by misrepresenting to the client that work… Read More »
Categories: Wellness and BalanceAn office of one’s own: 5 essentials for your home away from home
New lawyers, welcome to the practice of law. You now have an office of your own. You’ll be spending many of your waking hours plying your trade in this new little corner of the world. Make it a comfortable and professional place to work. Be prepared for unexpected events. What should you keep in your… Read More »
Categories: Career Management, Wellness and Balance