Sustainable Legal Practice: Embracing Authenticity and Values Alignment

First published on chantalmcnaught.com.

The temptation to act, urgently, is strong. This generation of lawyers has never seen such revolution and change as what’s happening with the profession right now.

The Current State of the Legal Profession

The context of all this change is a profession in turmoil. Mental health is low. Attrition rates mean lawyers are barely being trained before leaving legal practice. The unfortunate thing is that law can be extremely fulfilling and rewarding. At its heart, law is a service profession. Despite this, the reality of legal practice is that lawyers must eat, their businesses must remain profitable and sustainable otherwise there won’t be any lawyers who can assist their communities.

Lawyers are fundamental to the rule of law through being officers of the court and upholding the key tenets which bind our civilised society in justice and truth.

Despite these important and positive things, when I mention them to lawyers I’m often scoffed at. One lawyer said I hadn’t been in practice long enough to get a true gauge of lawyering reality. It seems there is a lot of guilt and loathing.

So, lawyers want to get ahead. Very few live any sort of glamourous life. Those few which earn fortunes often don’t get to enjoy them as they’re slaves to their work. One lawyer I spotted recently on a flight was so pressed for a document deadline they had to be told multiple times by the flight attendant to take the perspective that the 10 minutes of landing time when the lawyer couldn’t use their computer should be viewed as a, “small break.”

The pressures lawyers put on themselves in service to the courts and their clients is significant. It’s in this context I’m asked, “what should we be doing?” or, “what are others doing?” and sometimes, “how can we be more like [some other firm]?”

I have big problems with this line of thinking. It indicates a broader issue which popular psychology has called out over and over again. It’s more than just people pleasing. It’s twisting oneself into a pretzel to fit into an image of perceived lawyerly perfection. And it results in burnout, resentment, and lawyers leaving the law.

My qualification to discuss this is the fact that I was one of those lawyers.

The Importance of Personal Values in Law

I lacked the courage and personal development to find my true lawyer self. Whilst I don’t have regrets in leaving legal practice, there are loads of lessons I wish I could tell my younger lawyer self before she committed to leaving professional practice.

This is why personal values and a vision matter so much. Not just in lawyering as a business but also for your own individual satisfaction. Mark Manson writes that there is no true life contentedness without suffering. This is most likely an extrapolation from both Buddhism and the Stoics.

Yet, you can’t just suffer without it meaning anything. This is why knowing yourself is an important first step. When you know your “why” everything else falls into place. This is Simon Sinek’s advice and it very clearly has its place for the lost lawyer.

Finding Your “Why” as a Lawyer

You may not have words to describe the reasons for enjoying the legal practice you do. This is where value statements can help. There are quite a few activities you can do via Acceptance and Commitment Therapy techniques and now even Generative AI chatbots can assist with identifying your value statements. Such examples:

• Family
• Community
• Knowledge sharing
• Nature
• Caring for others

Once you find the value you are most aligned with, you can build out your personal vision statement. It doesn’t have to be long – but it can be, if you prefer. It’s a statement which powerfully contextualises your life and the direction most aligned with your values.

For example, just say 3 core values are:

1. Service to community
2. Care for others
3. Financial wealth

A suggested vision statement that aligns with all 3 of these can be:

Help high net-worth individuals arrange their assets to best serve their interests and communities and be paid handsomely for this.

Aligning your Practice to Your Vision

This vision can also align with law firm business needs in Estate Planning, Trusts and Family Law. By selecting high net-worth individuals, this eliminates the more price-sensitive clients.

I’ve personally seen this work effectively. Usually by lawyers who no longer want to be confined by the traditional success metrics of mere financial success and prestige. These lawyers value family time and acknowledge their wholeness as human beings. They run successful law firms which align to their own values, illustrating that business demands don’t have to be the primary driving force in running a law firm.

Addressing the Practicality

Some may argue that focusing on personal values and vision is a luxury that most lawyers can’t afford due to the demanding nature of legal practice. To an extent, this is true. However, I counter that if nothing changes then nothing changes. The exercise of assessing one’s personal values is the equivalent to 20 minutes doom scrolling on social media. It is possible, and necessary.

In navigating the turbulent waters of today’s legal landscape, lawyers must resist the urge to blindly follow trends or conform to the traditional definitions of success. Instead, the path forward can lay in introspection and alignment. By identifying our core values, crafting a personal vision, and shaping our practice to reflect these principles, we can find fulfilment in our work while contributing meaningfully to our clients and communities. This approach can not only lead to greater personal satisfaction but also could help address the broader challenges facing the legal profession. As we embrace our authentic selves and align our practice with our values, we can reinvigorate the legal profession, making it more sustainable, rewarding, and true to its noble purpose of serving the rule of law.

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