Say ‘Om’ – Mindfulness in Lawyering

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What with their billable hours and Blackberries, lawyers may not be the most zen of people.  But there’s hope: the May 2012 issue of Journal of Legal Education [Find it]  features a collection of articles in its “Mindfulness Symposium” that can help stressed-out attorneys, law professors, and law students get in touch with their inner yogis.  In terms of the symposium, mindfulness refers to “a deliberate, present-moment non-judgmental awareness of whatever passes through the five conventional senses and the mind—to simply: emotions, thoughts, and body sensations.” Mindfulness meditation is often practiced through techniques such as yoga, qi gong, and t’ai chi chuan. The symposium authors would convince you that mindfulness can also be practiced in the firm, in the classroom, and in the court room. The articles in the symposium are:

  • Awareness and the Legal Profession: An Introduction to the Mindful Lawyer Symposium
  • The Mindful Lawyer: Why Contemporary Lawyers Are Practicing Meditation
  • Toward Lawyering as Peacemaking: A Seminar on Mindfulness, Morality, and Professional Identity
  • Integrating Mindfulness Theory and Practice into Trial Advocacy
  • A Newbie’s Impression: One Student’s Mindfulness Lessons
  • Bringing Mindfulness into the Classroom: A Personal Journey
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