Being Mindful With The Spiritual Litigator

In this week’s podcast, I discuss a study I recently came across on happiness in the legal profession. In 2015, Lawrence S. Krieger from the Florida State University College of Law and Kennon M. Sheldon from the University of Missouri at Columbia – Department of Psychological Sciences conducted a survey of over 6,000 lawyers in various practice areas to determine what caused wellbeing and happiness. And the results may or may not be surprising to you. First, the study found that meaningful and personally engaging work were far more predictive of attorney well-being than external factors relating to law school competitive standing, honors, or post-law school annual salary. Second, the study showed that public service lawyers were happier and more satisfied than other lawyers, including those in the most prestigious, highly paid positions. Finally, a number of personal routine and lifestyle choices matched or exceeded the power of income, honors, and credentials as predictors of lawyer well-being. What does th