The Red Velvet Lawyer

The Mission of the Appalachian School of Law Sets up Grads for Happier Lives A new study reported today in the ABA Journal Law News Now reports that money and prestigious jobs obtained after graduating from a higher ranked school do not lead to happier lives as lawyers.  The survey measured lawyers’ “subjective well-being,” a combination of life satisfaction and mood. More than 7,800 bar members in four states responded to the survey; the study focused on about 6,200 who provided complete data and said they worked as lawyers, judges or in related positions.  The survey found that lawyers in “prestige” jobs, who had the highest grades and incomes, aren’t as happy as lawyers working in public-service jobs for substantially lower pay. Judges, however, were happiest of all.  “Prestige” jobs included lawyers working in firms of more than 100 lawyers and those working in areas such as corporate, tax, patent, securities, estate-planning and plaintiff’s...

Recent research again examined the mental health, happiness, and well-being of law students.   The news is not good, but we've known that for many years.  Research conducted in 2012, in Australia, examined whether a relationship might exists between emotional intelligence (EI) and better psychological health among law students.  Prior research had reported high rates of depression among law students.  "They experience a significant deterioration in their mental health status during law school  . . . . [that] may begin in the first year of study."   The research, using self-assessment tools of three types, indicated that students with higher EI were: Less likely to suffer psychiatric symptoms,  Less likely to use alcohol, More likely to be satisfied with life. The so-called " "Big Five"  personality factors of agreeableness, conscientiousness, extroversion, and neuroticism had a stronger link to psychological heal...

As I noted in an earlier posting , we welcomed our incoming 1L students to the school on Friday.  They are really quite wonderful people. I taught two sessions of the Introduction to Law course.  I ended both of the sessions with a guided meditation.  I want to acknowledge that my business coach, Christine Kane, introduced me to this meditation.  I'll post the second one tomorrow. Getting Vertical Meditation By Christine Kane (as modified by Paula Marie Young) Close your eyes Take a deep breath in your own rhythm Take another breath This time see if you can inhale on the count of 4 and slowly exhale on the count of 6, using this Yoga breathing technique to calm the parasympathetic nervous system Continue to breath in this way, and Slowly bring your attention to your tailbone Imagine a cord running from it through the floor to the center of the Earth Imagine it as a gold cord It’s beautiful and radiant And, at the end of it ha...

This summer, I will serve as the Faculty Supervisor for our students working as externs in Kentucky.  I have played this role for our Kentucky students three summers in a row.  One year, I also covered southwest Virginia nearly to the Cumberland Gap. I love exploring the towns and cities in the area we serve as a law school.  I love meeting the prosecutors, attorneys general, public defenders, judges, Legal Service, and other pubic service attorneys that host our students and serve as their site supervisors.  I love talking with these folks about our well-trained rising 2L students who must complete the externship as part of our educational program.  I also love interacting in my Dispute Resolution course with these more savvy, world-tested lawyers-in-training.  I know they bring a level of confidence and experience to the course that elevates our conversations. The Appalachian School of Law recently completed a couple of videos describing the externs...