8.1: Introduction for Instructors

Introduction to Mindful Lawyer Course

In recent years, lawyers and those who train and regulate them have been paying more attention to lawyer well-being. Over 30 years ago, law faculty and psychologists surveyed the mental well-being of law-students and found it to be abysmal. Continuing regional and national studies cement this as a real issue and one that needs addressing. A result of these concerns is the creation of courses focused on mindful lawyering and mindfulness among law students. While perhaps not a groundswell, one needs more than just their two hands to count the number of law schools offering courses in this realm.

Faculty creating these courses may already be involved in other kinds of legal mindfulness practice. The Mindfulness in Law Society (MILS) has chapters all over the country; it also has a law student division, which can wax and wane as student leadership rotates and shifts (or as pandemics come and go!) In addition to the resources offered by MILS, students and lawyers have multiple online resources to complement, enhance, or even guide formation of a mindfulness orientation. Further, there are now several books available that could be used as a textbook, thus obviating the need for curated materials.

This Mindful Lawyer course showcases one version of a mindfulness lawyer course offered in one law school. People attracted to teaching a similar course likely have a practice of their own --and indeed really need a practice to effectively teach this course. Their practice will likely inform the kind of course they want to put together, as will, of course, things such as credit hours available for a course.

I chose to create a three-credit-hour OER mindfulness course for several reasons. The first -- and the primary reason for OER materials generally -- is the cost factor. Second, as someone who has undertaken multiple mindfulness trainings, including trainings to teach it, I have preferences as to how to focus the course. I created a three credit-hour course to allow more freedom in course coverage and increase the time available for in-class practice. Third, I like the idea that someone can take these materials and make them their own by adding things, deleting other things, shifting for material for a two credit-hour course, or any other adaptation.

Two things I focused on in developing this course that I should mention at the outset: First, and part of the reason for the course to meet twice a week, I want to immerse the students in in-class twice weekly practices. They will also do out-of-class practice, but twice-a-week in-class group practice will, I hope, really strengthen the odds that students actually incorporate this methodology into their lives and practice.

Second, as I began to think about what materials to include, I became convinced that students would benefit from fewer readings, more practice, more reflection, and more discussion. I have tried my best to incorporate that belief in the materials, which required the continual pushing away of the notion that more equals better. A review of the material demonstrates that I succeeded in some places better than in others.

Student mindfulness practice during the course semester

Students will be required to have a mindfulness practice six days a week while in this class. For the two class days per week, students will practice mindfulness during class, with a brief time for observation and comment afterward. On at least four other days during any given week, the students will be required to do a mindfulness practice - starting with 10 minutes a day and advancing to 20 over the course of the semester. This practice will be followed by a short period of journaling. The students will need to keep a log of their mindfulness practice each week in order to keep a record for themselves as well as being accountable to course requirements. Students will be permitted, indeed encouraged, to use apps or other resources as well as be provided with journal and log entries forms to keep in long hand if they so desire. There are also on-line practices that students will be asked to sample as part of the course assignments. These are listed as links on the course syllabus. The exposure to these various sites is intended to add to the in-class practices and allow students to experience a range of mindfulness practices, as well as a range of facilitators.

At several points during the semester, class time will be devoted to how the students’ mindfulness practice is developing. For this 12-person seminar, I will divide the group into three small groups to encourage sharing. I may use prompts to help the discussion begin or just let the discussions begin and flow naturally. This course may attract some students who already have a mindfulness practice and others who are novices. This range of experience will be beneficial as students with an existing practice can share their own experience(s)with their peers.

As mentioned before, a core course goal of having a three-plus-month period in which students are practicing mindfulness at least six times a week is to create enough time to for them to form a mindfulness practice habit, as well as supporting them in the early stages. Another core goal is to expose students to a variety of mindfulness practices. This exposure will come through multiple sources. In the first half of the course, the instructor will lead a variety of different mindfulness practices. Students will be encouraged to, in their out-of-classroom practice, experiment with the various practices used in class as well as using other sources. Many of these sources will be provided to the students and they will be encouraged to explore on their own. There will also be two guest facilitators during the semester.

For instance, the syllabus will guide students to websites and other on-line practices that are law-school-based mindfulness. For this course, I am requiring students to attend several live on-line practices offered by both the Mindfulness in Law Society as well as a state-based lawyer well-being on-line platform. A goal here is to be sure that students are aware of and able to access resources when they are done with this class. They will thus have the ability to continue with the mindfulness practice habit created and cultivated during the course, Many of the resources they are exposed to during the course they will be able to access throughout law school and beyond into law practice or other environments.

Class readings/videos. Students will also sample mindfulness literature –usually law professor generated. For the material used for class, whether it be written or video, students often will be required to complete personal reflections. This will help them develop the reflective muscle which, one hopes, will allow and reinforce the non-judgmental curiosity that mindfulness seeks to cultivate. This curiosity will be beneficial as they immerse themselves in a career in which judgment is often at the fore. Note here, please, that this is not to discourage students from developing good judgment as lawyers. Rather, it may help them learn the distinction between sound professional judgment and being reactively judgmental, to the detriment of their client or a situation more generally.

Guest Speakers. For a class like this, there are any number of potential guest speakers. I ended up with two. The first is affiliated with the state lawyer assistance program and is herself a mindfulness proponent and expert. She is scheduled early on, but really could come at any point in the semester. In addition to leading the practice for the day, this speaker will augment the presentation of the mindfulness neuroscience that students will also get from the two videos/documentaries that I assign early in the course. The second speaker is a library colleague who will lead a meditation to help students explore mindless relationships with technology and devices.

Open Classes. For my first iteration of the class, I have chosen to leave a couple of classes open, i.e., with material for that specific class yet to decided. In the spirit of mindful awareness and present moment living, I want to leave space for the class to develop and to allow students to suggest topics that I had not inserted into the syllabus. This also allows for spillover in case the rather tricky skill of assessing how long it will take to cover the assigned material needs some tweaking. Further, one of the open classes, which I chose to situate together towards the end of the course, could be structured as a mini-retreat in which the entirety of class time - 85 minutes - is spent doing three to five different practices. I share several other thoughts about the use of the open classes in the Weeks 13 and 14 narrative.

In-class practice. When initially developing the syllabus, I inserted the specific mindfulness practice that would be done in that particular class session. After further thought, however, I decided not to identify specific practices, simply noting the in-class practice. I like the fluidity that this gives me in choosing what practice to use in any given day. Having had several trainings on facilitating mindfulness, I am comfortable leading practices and will do so most sessions. I will plan to cover the basics: breathe, focused attention, mindful walking, body scans, mindful eating, and some form of seated mindful movement.

I know several faculty who teach these courses are certified in movement practice such as yoga or Qi Gong. I am not and accordingly want to be careful with any kind of movement practice. Essentially it will be some gentle stretching, much as I might do in any longer class session where there is no time for an official break. It is important for law students to get out of their heads and become more aware of their bodies. To further encourage this, I will also point students towards the 20 minute on-line yoga class offered weekly by the state’s lawyer assistance program. This is part of the wellness focus of the program and is a good free resource for students to become familiar with and which, I hope, they will continue to use after the class is done.

Class orientation. It seemed important to me to note that this class is, as structured, very secular. That orientation feels appropriate to me but does raise several corollary issues. One, the millennia old Buddhist orientation of mindfulness is not covered in any depth. I will speak of it here and there and make clear the origins of the practice. I also will reference some giants, such as Thich Nhat Hanh, whose books are among the assigned readings in some of the mindful lawyer syllabi I have examined.

I start some practices with a bell and explain how, in some secular trainings, even that is controversial. In addition, some of the on-line guided meditations that students are encouraged and required to sample will be facilitated by Buddhist practitioners. Students will also see similar references in some of the videos and, for some classes, other monks might be referenced.

I think it is possible to run the course with more Buddhist or contemplative mystical content, even in a secular institution. And some might argue that it is inappropriate not to have more of that content, amounting to cultural appropriation. My hope is that, by acknowledging where credit is due, I avoid that. I also hope to provide and hold space for students who come with no religious background or different religious backgrounds. My goal is for the class to be and feel open to all.