Utah Bar Journal

Stressors happen to us every day. It’s a constant barrage. We get stress from opposing counsel; we get stress from Judge Schmuck at hearings and trial; and we get overexpectation stress from clients. And there’s the oldie-but-goodie financial stress from mortgage lenders and sweet families. Over time, a constant diet of stress will beat you up, wear you down, and eventually – kill you.

I used to work as Legislative Counsel to Congressman Gunn McKay and the Interior Appropriations Committee for the U. S. House of Representatives in Washington D.C. It was a pressure-cooker environment where our performance affected millions of people and billions of dollars. But none of that stress compared even remotely to the emotional intensity of my first client when I returned to the practice of law in Logan. His neighbor’s chickens made so much noise he couldn’t sleep at night, and he was steamed! Forget the millions and billions, he seemed to challenge “Just take care of 50 crummy chickens!” Now that is stress!

Aarrgghh! Is there any way you can get off this rollercoaster? Some days, bagging groceries or pumping gas at the corner market seems like a much wiser career path than the practice of law. That no doubt accounts for why a near-majority of us, according to a recent poll of attorneys, would rather be doing something else – anything else.

A recent Swedish longitudinal study found that those with high levels of stress and little emotional support from family or friends were four times more likely to die within the next seven years as those with the same stresses but ample social support. According to a 1990 John’s Hopkins University study, lawyers are 3.6 times more likely than other workers in the United States to become clinically depressed, ranking at the top of 100 occupational groups.

But wait a minute. Does it have to be like this? Does the pressure of practice have to cause near-paralysis? Take a deep breath and re-read “An Attorney’s Prayer” as adapted from the Florida Bar Journal, December, 1977: “Grant me not to confuse a point of law with the point of existence. Give me the grace to hear patiently, to consider diligently, to understand rightly, and to decide justly. Inspire me to be the wise counselor, eager to impart peace.”

That’s a start in de-stressing your world. It continues with civility. Isn’t it truly a better day when you can cordially discuss your disputes with opposing counsel rather than hanging the phone up in a snit? Former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor pointed out: “The justice system cannot function effectively when the professionals charged with administering it cannot even be polite to one another.”

Each year, a well-known Phoenix law firm helps new associates diminish the stressors of practice with an internal seminar on how to be a decent human being and effective attorney:

1. It’s a smaller town that you think. If you are a jerk, word gets around.

2. Classy lawyers get better results. Judges, juries, and appellate courts trust classy lawyers more.

3. Being a decent person is more efficient. Less time is wasted on petty and needless disputes.

4. Being a decent human being is good for the firm, because those attorneys get more referrals.

U. S. District Court Judge David Sam suggested at a Federal Court Litigation Practice seminar in 1996 that attorneys:

Have respect for the fairness and dignity of the role of the law in maintaining a free society. Work out matters with other attorneys without imposing on the court. Give extensions and waive formalities unless real prejudice results to the client. View compromise as a tool. Refuse to take any course of action that is without merit. Do not disparage or attribute bad motives to opposing counsel.

Can you remember the attorney’s oath each of us signed?

I will maintain the respect due to courts of justice and judicial officers. I will not counsel or maintain any suit or proceeding which shall appear to be unjust, nor any defense except such as I believe to be honestly debatable under the law of the land.

I recall the counsel of former Supreme Court Justice Warren E. Burger in the 1984 address to the American Bar Association: “The entire legal profession – lawyers, judges, law teachers – have become so mesmerized with the stimulation of the courtroom contest that we tend to forget that we ought to be healers of conflicts…, not hired guns.” Lawyers are given many gifts. As is often the case for beneficiaries of largess, we sometimes forget how much we have been given.

Remember the real key to developing successful relationships with clients and opposing counsel is to recognize the problem, slow down for introspection, and let go of the external concept of strife for strife’s sake. “Developing an honest relationship with self is the key,” says District of Columbia Counselor Ed Honnold. “The experience of just being, of slowing down and tuning in to personal needs is what leads lawyers to a healthy balance between work and life.”

With a little practice, you can learn how to refuse delivery of artificially created stress and the unnecessary disruption of life, which attends such stress. So the next time 5:13 a.m. rolls around, and you’re bone-dead tired, you will be able to roll over and go back to sleep – at least until 6:30 a.m.