Well Being in Law
The well-being of lawyers, paralegals and other professional legal staff should be paramount in a firm’s strategic planning and allocation of resources. When lawyers and their support teams thrive, victims get the best advocacy and ultimately the best outcomes.
Legal professionals, particularly in high-stakes practice areas like mass tort, are often under tremendous pressure to hit targets, meet strict deadlines, and interface with clients with care and compassion. Our well-being while at work matters to our colleagues and our clients; stressed out people make more mistakes, have higher incidences of workplace conflict, and call out of work more often. Workers who are dissatisfied with their pay, their role and responsibilities, or their management quit for better opportunities.
As Forbes magazine put it: The Future of Work Is Employee Well-Being
Well-Being at Work
While every employee is different, the vast majority want to work for a company where they feel safe and supported and they feel valued and respected. Employees at all levels tend to want the same things but the tools and resources required to meet those needs vary from person to person. One of the best ways to ensure you’re the right person in the right seat is by focusing on your well-being.
By focusing on your well-being, you are 1) taking time to figure out what you need and 2) putting a plan in place to get what you need.
Well-Being Week in Law
WWIL is an event of the Institute for Well-Being in Law (IWIL) (formerly named the National Task Force on Lawyer Well-Being). Organizations that participate in WWIL include the American Bar Association (ABA) Law Practice Division and its Attorney Well-Being Committee and the ABA Commission on Lawyer Assistance Program’s (CoLAP) Well-Being Committee.
The Institute for Well-Being in Law is a 501(c)(3) non-profit that evolved from the National Task Force on Lawyer Well-Being. In August 2017, the Task Force published a comprehensive report titled The Path to Lawyer Well-Being: Practical Recommendations for Positive Change. The report spotlighted a 2016 study of nearly 13,000 practicing lawyers which found that too many lawyers are not thriving. The release of the report resulted in a national movement among stakeholders in the legal profession to take action to improve well-being.
For 2021’s Well-Being Week in Law, MTI hosted a series of Facebook Lives where our team discusses physical, spiritual, career, social, and emotional well-being.
Well-Being in Law Mini Course
This brief mini course will help you jumpstart a holistic approach to your health and well-being. With 5 learning modules, homework assignments, and resources, students will learn about the importance maintaining physical, spiritual, intellectual, social, and emotional well-being as a legal professional.