Contemplative Practices in Law

Meditation and mindfulness practices can help lawyers deal better with stress, develop self-awareness and understanding of others, improve concentration and creativity, and perform better as attorneys and/or mediators. It is a pretty bold statement but it has been supported by the experiences of many lawyers and is the subject of research.

Attention is paramount in the law - attention to details; to legal, ethical and moral principles; and to the hearts and minds of clients, colleagues, judges and juries. A meditation practice helps lawyers cultivate a greater ability to “pay attention.”

Many law firms have offered meditation training.  Students at many law schools -- Denver, Hastings, Miami, Missouri-Columbia, North Carolina, UF, SFU, Stanford, CUNY, and Suffolk -- have taken mindfulness meditation instruction on campus, sometimes as part of law school courses. Groups of lawyers across the country are gathering together to practice meditation and to reflect on their law and/or mediation practices. For instance, Zen priest and lawyer Mary Mocine leads a monthly Dharma Group for lawyers in the San Francisco Bay Area. For information, please contact Mary Mocine at marymo@att.net or (707) 649-2480.

The Law Program at the Center for Contemplative Mind explores ways of helping lawyers, judges, law professors and students reconnect with their deepest values and intentions, through meditation, yoga, and other contemplative and spiritual practices. The program has sponsored a series of insight meditation retreats for lawyers and law students, including a retreats at Spirit Rock Meditation Center attended by hundreds of lawyers and law students. These retreats include instruction in contemplative practices and group discussions about combining these practices with a life in the law. The Law Program’s Coordinator is Douglas Chermak.

Stephanie West Allen maintains a wonderful resource list for Contemplative Lawyers. See:

http://westallen.typepad.com/idealawg/2008/09/contemplative-lawyers-some...