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Blog Glob: "Hildebrandt Interprets Economic Impact on Lawyers: 'Flat Is New Up'"

Excerpt:

The traditional way for law firms to weather economic downturns – cutting overhead and raising rates — are no longer enough. “Law firms must expand their efforts to understand the marked shift in client attitude that is the product of this economy,” said [Kristin] Stark. “After ten years of a ‘seller’s market’ we have rapidly shifted to a ‘buyer’s market.’

“Clients now hold the power where pricing is concerned,” said Stark, “and these clients are angry and frustrated. This downturn has quickly compounded long-term client perceptions of poor value and misalignment of resources in exchange for high rates.

“The most market-savvy law firms understand that clients currently enjoy a growing number of options to get legal services cheaper and faster,” said Stark. “These firms are actively pushing ‘big moves’ to reshape their firms – and the legal industry.”
These include:

Click to read the rest of "Hildebrandt Interprets Economic Impact on Lawyers: 'Flat Is New Up'" (Law Week Colorado).

Blog Glob: "The Social Neuroscience of Empathy"

Abstract:

The phenomenon of empathy entails the ability to share the affective experiences of others. In recent years social neuroscience made considerable progress in revealing the mechanisms that enable a person to feel what another is feeling. The present review pro- vides an in-depth and critical discussion of these findings. Consistent evidence shows that sharing the emotions of others is associated with activation in neural structures that are also active during the first-hand experience of that emotion. Part of the neural activation shared between self- and other-related experiences seems to be rather auto- matically activated. However, recent studies also show that empathy is a highly flexible phenomenon, and that vicarious responses are malleable with respect to a number of factors—such as contextual appraisal, the interpersonal relationship between em- pathizer and other, or the perspective adopted during observation of the other. Future investigations are needed to provide more detailed insights into these factors and their neural underpinnings. Questions such as whether individual differences in empathy can be explained by stable personality traits, whether we can train ourselves to be more empathic, and how empathy relates to prosocial behavior are of utmost relevance for both science and society.

Click to read the rest of "The Social Neuroscience of Empathy" (Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences) [pdf].

Alas, these new med school grads do not know how to take care of patients

Read this quote.

“The most common criticism made at present by older practitioners is that young graduates have been taught a great deal about the mechanism of disease, but very little about the practice of medicine – or to put it more bluntly, they are too ‘scientific’ and do not know how to take care of patients.”
 -Francis W. Peabody

Now guess what year it was written. Take a look at the article "The Care of the Patient" (Journal of the American Medical Association) [PDF] to learn the answer.

More about the article and Dr. Peabody.

Post which mentions this quote: Can Doctors and Patients Communicate? (Writing Doctor's Blog).

"Medical Students' Empathy Plunges in Third Year, Says Study"

Excerpt:

A study published in a recent issue of Academic Medicine found that medical students' feelings of empathy erode sharply during their third year of medical school -- just as they are shifting from largely didactic learning activities toward hands-on patient-care. ...

According to family medicine education experts, this erosion of empathy is a significant and problematic issue, because physicians' feelings of concern are related to better patient outcomes.

...

The study authors suggested that reasons for the decline include a lack of role models, the volume of materials to learn, time pressures, and patient and environmental factors, such as overly demanding patients and restrictions on caregivers' autonomy.

The study also cited students' overreliance on computer-based diagnostic and therapeutic

Lawyers behaving badly: Do new lawyers need mentoring in civility?

In "Stop behaving badly, boorish lawyers told" (Toronto Star), several possible reasons are put forth to explain why the number of complaints made to the Law Society of Upper Canada about rude and abusive behavior has increased. These reasons include:

"Our society isn't as polite as it was," [Derry] Millar said in an interview. "People on their BlackBerrys and their phones have no idea of who is around them. They are not engaged. You phone somebody and you get an automated attendant. We've lost social interaction and people are overstressed, overworked and rushed.

And . . .

Remaining on one's best behaviour, though, can be challenging in an adversarial justice system that pits lawyers against one another and fosters a "radical kind of individualism," [Eugene] Meehan notes.

This one is probably a factor . . .

[Derry] Millar said the law society is also looking at strengthening mentoring programs. Some believe incivility is on the rise because many new lawyers start out on their own these days instead of working alongside experienced members of the bar, who could show them how to behave.

I have not thought much recently about how one learns the culture of the profession. This morning I spent some time recalling what I learned from my mentors. The highest degree of civility, courtesy, and respect for all lawyers and clients was certainly a part of it what they taught me. Their teaching was almost all by example; I watched them maintain that demeanor and behavior even when the other side was acting with a low degree of civility.

What do you think? Is civility something one can learn from another? How do new lawyers learn the way to navigate in a civil manner, even when confronted with boorish behavior? Are law schools teaching civility? Should they?

Video of Charlie Halpern speaking on "Empathy, Meditation, and the Practice of Law"

Watch Charlie Halpern presenting at Baldy Center for Law & Social Policy, University at Buffalo Law School by clicking here. From the Web site:

During the past decade a number of lawyers, judges and law professors have begun to explore the relevance of meditation and other contemplative practices to legal education and the work of lawyers. Courses have been offered in law schools around the country, and lawyers and judges have participated in retreats and workshops. The benefits range from managing stress at a difficult time in a high stress profession to sharpening lawyers? skills, such as negotiation, client interviewing and trial advocacy. Meditation can heighten emotional literacy and increase the capacity to make empathetic connections. A growing body of scientific evidence is establishing the demonstrable impact on brain function and structure from regular meditation practice. Many law students are finding that the meditative perspective makes them more effective students and improves academic performance. Wisdom has historically been a quality prized by lawyers. Meditative practice can help bring wisdom into law practice and legal institutions.

More about Halpern in "Move From Being a Mindless Lawyer To a Mindful Lawyer" (The Complete Lawyer).

Image credit: The Complete Lawyer.

Mindfulness training in a sister profession: Physicians reduce burnout and improve attitudes towards patients

70 Rochester docs participated in an intensive training in mindfulness and mindful communication. The effects of that training were written up in this week's Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).

From "Mindful Meditation, Shared Dialogues Reduce Physician Burnout" (University of Rochester Newsroom):

Edward A. Stehlik, M.D., governor of the Upstate New York branch of the American College of Physicians and an internist who practices near Buffalo, said the training was “the most useful thing I’ve done since my medical training to help me in my practice of medicine.”

...

Mindful communication utilizes the techniques of meditation to help people maintain an open

Think about it: Who are the consequential strangers in your life?

Today was the first I have heard of the new book Consequential Strangers: The Power of People Who Don't Seem to Matter. . . But Really Do. NPR just posted an excerpt from the book and, after reading it, I thought some of you might want to know about the concept of "consequential strangers." From the excerpt:

When humorist Joel Stein, a regular contributor to Time magazine, read the proposed 2006 list of influential people, he decided his editors should "get out of the building more." Chinese businessman Huang Guangyu, Egyptologist Zahi Hawass, and Balenciaga designer Nicolas Ghesquiere meant nothing to him. "What about people who actually affect us?" wondered Stein in his annual sendup of the Time 100.

He created his own list of 100 people who mattered to him. The "Joel 100" included his lawyer, his CPA, his renter, the man who delivered his bottled water, and the couple who sold him his house. Time included his list with Time 100. A few weeks later, a 75-year-old man wrote to Time to say he had been inspired to write a list of his 100. And eventually Consequential Strangers was published.

Who are consequential strangers?

[T]the countless everyday people who touch our lives and influence us personally.

...

They range from long-standing acquaintances to people we encounter on occasion or only in certain places. They cut a wide swath across our lives, and yet each is linked to us in some way and fills a specific need.

On the book's Web site is a testimonial about the book from Mark Granovetter:

This welcome antidote to hand-wringing about the “loss” of community and social ties shows in rich detail what a diverse and complex social tapestry we weave. Drawing deftly on both recent scholarship and riveting personal stories, Consequential Strangers pulls together the many social strands that other works distort by viewing one at a time. Neither mindlessly upbeat nor morosely glum, this is the essential guide to navigating our new twenty-first century social waters.

My reading list is growing daily. I think I will put this one near the top.

Lawyers and social media: Some "enjoying early-adopter advantage"

This from "Increased cost-consciousness spurs rise in mediation" (Baltimore Business Journal):

Lawyers, often partial to the herd mentality, are beginning to embrace social networking and are noticing some returns.

Cutting-edge legal practitioners say they are using social networking sites such as Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn in three main ways: to market themselves, to better communicate with clients and to gain an understanding of their clients’ business relationships.

Glenn Manishin ... has been involved in social media “on an intensive basis” for more than two years. At least half a dozen clients have retained him based upon getting to know him through social media.

“I have clients and potential clients that never e-mail me any more; they only send me direct messages through Twitter,” he said.

The "slackoisie" controversy does not die: My four questions

Let's look at some pieces of this debate involving Gen Y, a.k.a. millennials, those lawyers in the workplace who are under 30. The controversy between them and baby boomers is often very heated. The matters of disagreement seem to center on work-life balance and client service. (Let me add that this disagreement is occurring not only in the legal profession; I hear about it in many professions and industries, including the medical profession.)

Bruce Tulgan has called the millennials "high maintenance." (E.g, here.) They take extra time and energy to manage. They need more attention. My first question: Why take the extra resources to get them to do a good job? That is not a rhetorical question. I'm asking for your response. I know how authors of the books on this cohort respond but what do YOU say? (In fact, I am asking for your opinions on all four of my questions.)

Another piece of the puzzle. Some of them may be narcissists.

According to psychological researcher and professor Dr. Jean Twenge, nearly one in ten 20-somethings are narcissists, compared with 3% of people over 65. In fact, she believes that the number of narcissists in our culture equals what she calls an "epidemic." Read more in "Narcissism Epidemic: Why There Are So Many Narcissists Now" (US News & World Report).

Of course, there are boomer narcissists in law firms. But they typically have a strong belief in client service; it is almost as if the client becomes a part of their narcissism, which can be in the client's best interest. My next question: What do young narcissists bring to a firm and its clients if their focus on work-life balance does not include an equally strong focus on client service?

I continue to ask myself where the client service focus is in this generational wrangling. In fact, that is what I listen for when I hear the discussions. How much is it mentioned? If at all?

My friend Susan Cartier Liebel posted an article from Forbes.com "A Job Suffused With Meaning? Bring It On!" about the generational differences and commonalities. And then she posted this comment which I