A Practice Transformed

At the close of my last semester in law school, Professor Gary Gilden said that he hoped that we would be able to come back to him at our 20th reunion and be able to say that lawyers can be human beings too. At the time, I thought that was a curious remark because, of course lawyers are human beings- why would anyone think otherwise?

After practicing for several years, I started to understand his point. The practice of law can in certain respects be alienating. Maybe that’s the dark side of the “back stage pass” metaphor from a few posts ago. The practice of law can breed an “otherness” that can create barriers to communication; the law’s analytical approach can lead one to lose touch with the richness of human emotion and even with one’s own personal feelings; and there is also a frequently adversarial and disputatious aspect to the profession. Plus, while the law is a necessary handmaiden to business, lawyers are often cast in a supporting role and not primary players. All this can lead to malaise about law as a career.

An antidote for this perspective can be found in Steven Keeva’s book, Transforming Practices: Finding Joy and Satisfaction in the Legal Life. I read this book shortly after it was published ten years ago, and it re-energized my legal career by emphasizing that law can be a helping profession. Keeva makes the point that making your livelihood in law can be quite satisfying when you build a practice around your inner values. If there is one book that I would recommend to all those hearty souls across the US who just completed their bar examinations this week, it would be Transforming Practices.

So, to Professor Gilden I tender my thanks for posing the question and I offer my answer some 20+ years in the making; that although it may take a little extra effort, even lawyers can be human beings too.