Can You Live with the Law?

I've written about Axiom and Lawyers on Demand before. They are now part of the legal vernacular and although they are carving out new ventures in law, they appear part of our lives. Yet they are predicated on fundamentally different lines to conventional law firms.

Organizations like Lawyers on Demand suggest to those who want to work with them that they need to think carefully about what they want to do with their lives and where their work in law fits in. In others words, think about your life-work balance. Few rarely do and if they do, they soon forget.

This sort of thing needs sustained thought and analysis. Alex Aldridge wrote a piece recently for the Guardian on surviving law school. I suggested in that that students should engage in some mindfulness practice. Both Berkeley and Miami law schools teach courses on mindfulness and these are becoming more and more necessary. I would even suggest that all lawyers should read two books:

• Eugen Herrigel, Zen and the Art of Archery: Training the Mind and Body to Become One
• Rober Persig, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

I read both long ago but they still remain favourite reads of mine and I have gone back to them. No one wants to end up like the fellow in the picture above.

Some may rebel against reading these canonical texts, so there is an alternative. Lawyers on Demand are running a series of events--Life With Law: To Help Lawyers Find Their Path and Make Things Happen. According to Simon Harper of LoD

As the legal profession experiences accelerating change, we all need some space to think about our working lives. Life With Law is a place for lawyers to take a bit of time to reflect on how to meet their changing personal development needs.

Clients and lawyers alike are placing increasing importance on alternative legal services models as a result of the growing commercialisation of the legal sector. Now one of the first of the new legal service providers is mirroring another trend that is beginning to shape the business world and giving lawyers access to tools for personal development, self-help and ‘mindfulness’.

Lawyers On Demand’s free Life With Law events are open to any lawyers who are curious about ideas for better managing their own lives – and to help their teams to manage theirs.

I can't be there as I will be giving a talk in Boston, but if I weren't I would be. The first event is on Wednesday, October 10 at 18.30. It's being held at Adelaide House, London Bridge, London EC4R 9HA.

Now if you can't make it, there is an alternative. They've worked for many centuries and shaman swear by them, though as lawyers there is doubt about their legality......