Prof. Russell Pearce, a director of the Stein Center for Law & Ethics at Fordham Law School, preaches the right, importance, and duty of lawyers incorporating their moral values in the representation of clients. Out with the hired gun, in with the ethics counselor, is the message of his new movie, which features interviews with prominent lawyers and academics.
Alienated, burned out, stressed out are common complaints among lawyers. The long term study of Indiana University Maurer Law School graduates shows that lawyers who serve in public interest and government are the most satisfied with their work-home life balance. Those who are in large firms, with the highest compensation, report the most dissatisfaction. Jeffrey Stake, et alii, INCOME AND CAREER SATISFACTION IN THE LEGAL PROFESSION: SURVEY DATA FROM INDIANA LAW SCHOOL GRADUATES, 4 Journal of Empirical Legal Studies 939 (2007)
(click thumbnail to expand image)Russ Pearce and the Stein Center (at which I have the title Senior Fellow) have produced a film that urges lawyers to move away from the disinterested hired gun mode and toward an integration of personal moral and ethical values with one's counseling. Maybe if embraced it could reduce the family/work balance satisfaction gap between the large firm and the public interest and government practitioners.
Good article. As a trial attorney with 40+ years experience, I look at myself now as a holistic lawyer who takes the client's whole life experience into consideration in my counsel. I agree that this approach is much more satisfying.
ReplyDeleteHere is what Morris Dees of the Southern Poverty Law Center has to say about J. Gary Gwilliam's book `Getting a Winning Verdict - in my personal life':
ReplyDelete"Most great trial lawyers bare their clients' souls in their quest for victory, but few bare their own in their personal struggle to be real. Gary lays it all out in the dramatic story of his life - the good, the bad and the ugly. His pain throbs as he reaches the bottom, and his joy abounds as he learns to live with success and the love of his life. This journey, one that few of us have the courage to travel, much less admit, has made him a greater champion of the powerless and a better person."
For more on the book:
http://www.giccb.com/CM/Custom/Getting-Winning-Verdict.asp
- GWC