There are a few films every law student should see. At the
top of the list is “The Paper
Chase.” It depicts Harvard Law School in 1973 and helped define the popular
culture definition of law school generally. It is, of course, an Old Boys Club
and a time when the Socractic Method, and the fear associated with it,
dominated the law school curriculum, and therefore, the legal profession
itself.
Today, people still discuss the legal profession and law
school as though they are identical to the 1973 model. I see a similar pattern
in business, medicine, and many other professions. I fall into the trap
constantly, including the post, “You’d
be proud of me.” There is an ingrained perception that all lawyers fit a
particular mold. There is an ingrained perception that business models from the
1970s work in the 21st century. There is an ingrained model that allopathic
doctors must remain detached from their patients.
But the world has changed. Our discussion needs to shift as
well.
I can only speak personally about law, but I see it in so
many other fields as an outsider. My law school class had people who expected
to be lawyers all their lives, people who wanted to change the world, and
people who just showed up because it seemed like the thing to do. Personally, I
fell somewhere between categories two and three, though my teachers growing up
may have placed me in category one. Law firms today continue to ask associates
to work obscene hours, but they also fight to have the best family-friendly
offices, offer hours for pro bono work, and spend time and money building a
name in the community. The law, and the people who practice law, are changing
and growing. But the conversation often remains stuck in the 1973 model.
One of the biggest shifts in the legal field has been the
inclusion of yoga and meditation. Last October, I attended The Mindful Lawyer Conference, and there is legal education popping up all over the country
focusing on meditation. I am even teaching yoga in the mornings during at least
two law-related conferences next year. In other words, the legal profession has
shifted drastically.
But the stereotypes remain, and they remain to our
detriment. Those of us who practice law and believe we are outside the old
stereotypes feel like outsiders when, in reality, the outsiders are those who remain beholden to the old paradigm. I used to be the person feeling like an outsider because I
do yoga, meditate, and want to share it with the world. But if I have learned
one thing from writing this blog, it is that I may still be in the minority,
but we have reached critical mass.
And I do not mean just people who do yoga. I mean people who
want to see a new paradigm emerge in the professions that once were dominated
by 1950s visions of the world. Yoga and meditation help me formulate how I
envision that new paradigm. Others see it as a family friendly, more
human-to-human focus, and more “balanced,” whatever that means to the
individual person. There is no question that the world is changing. There is no
question that professions are changing. I know I will continue to get stuck in
the old paradigm discussions, but I want to see the conversation shift.
The more of us who speak out and share our visions, the more
we can structure it and create it. “The Paper Chase” defined an era, and it
remains a good movie. But I prefer to think of it as an historical relic. I’m
not quite ready to see “Legally Blond” be the new paradigm, but I know it is
time for something new.
How have you seen your profession, whatever it is, change
over time? What vision do you have for it going forward? Please share in the comments. I would love to see what others are thinking, and I think sharing together will help shift the field.
Namaste!
©
Rebecca Stahl 2011, all rights reserved.
