Transforming Practices : Finding Joy and Satisfaction in the Legal Life (Hardcover)

by Steven Keeva (Author) "IF YOU WERE TO SURVEY THE LAWYERS you know to find out what led them to the law, you would probably come across reasons as..." (more)
Key Phrases: New York, San Francisco, International Alliance of Holistic Lawyers (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
From law school to the law firm, lawyers are taught and encouraged to win, with little regard to the emotional consequences. After years of being obsessed with winning, racking up billable hours, and fishing for clients, many lawyers lose sight of why they initially joined the ranks of the legal profession. This landmark book explains how to reconnect with the spiritual side of law practice. It presents profiles of firms and lawyers who have transformed their practices from heartless and cold professional endeavors into kinder, gentler operations, with more emphasis on the clients'--and their own--emotional and spiritual needs.

From the Publisher
Spirituality and law practice may sound like an oxymoron, but a quiet quest to find deeper meaning in life and work as a lawyer and to cure the ailments of today's cutthroat law firm environment is well underfoot within the legal community. Transforming Practices: Finding Joy and Satisfaction in the Legal Life is the first book to explore this movement toward bringing one's soul to the practice of law and returning to lawyering from a healing perspective, rather than an adversarial one. Filled with inspiring profiles of lawyers who have successfully changed their work habits and attitudes and who have healed the split between inner and outer, "us" and "them," and individual and community, Transforming Practices makes it clear that the opportunity for transformation exists for every lawyer, in every kind of law practice. Through the use of narrative, interviews and anecdotes that draw upon the experiences of lawyers from a broad spectrum of practice areas, the book demonstrates that it is okay for a lawyer to be human, to care, to let the values and priorities that matter at home also matter at work. Interestingly, Steven Keeva is not a lawyer himself. Rather, as a senior editor for the ABA Journal, the most widely read legal publication in the world, he has written about lawyers and the legal profession for nearly a decade. (Danielle Egan-Miller, Business Editor, NTC/Contemporary).

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 352 pages
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill; 1 edition (September 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0809225042
• ISBN-13: 978-0809225040
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #825,894 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Keep your work (not just in law) from killing your spirit., August 18, 1999

By	Stephen Chakwin (Norwalk, CT USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

There was a joke a few years back about a Russian banker. The devil appeared and told him he could have control over one of the largest banks in the country. All he would have to do was sign over his, his wife's, and their children's souls for all eternity. The banker hesitated, thought for a moment and finally looked at the impatient demon "I don't get it," he said quizzically "what's the catch?" Too many Americans think of lawyers as (sorry!) soulmates to this mythical banker and too many lawyers act and live in ways that justify this belief. Part of this comes with the territory: we ask lawyers to do unpleasant things for us, be greedy and unreasonable for us in business and matrimonial disputes, help us hide from the consequences of our actions in criminal cases, and sometimes stretch the envelope in getting us what we feel we are owed in any number of types of claims. We judge lawyers by how well they do these things and then (depending which side of the dispute we were on) salve our consciences or get even by disdaining them for doing what we want them to do. Lawyers, like many other people, fall easily into their ascribed roles. Many of them revel in how unscrupulous they are, how cleverly they helped miscreants escape, etc. And, of course, many of these personality traits have appeared in people running legal organizations: greed, amorality, lack of connection with the human consequences of their actions. Is this only in law? I don't think so. Steven Keeva's book brings light into this dark and shadowy place. He shows some lawyers who are opting out of this world of mindless, soulless predation and are finding ways to allow their work to nurture, rather than prey upon, their souls. His book is a treasury of insights, stories, and techniques, designed to keep the best people (the ones who want to know what they are doing and who care about what it means) in law and to connect the best of what all people in law have to offer with the work that lawyers do. Along the way, he offers insights into how lawyers can transform themselves and their practices in ways that will benefit themselves and their clients and some glimpses into the larger movement in American life that is seeking to bring meaning and satisfaction into our lives at work (the anti-Dilbert movement). If every lawyer in America read this book carefully, perhaps the high rate of job dissatisfaction in this profession would change. Certainly the legal world would be a better place. There is much to read and ponder here for workers in all fields in which human lives and values are at stake. Here is a way to build a bridge back from alienation to meaning and joy. I hope people read it and find the courage to act on its wonderful message. I guess it means something that I've written this much and said nothing about the book's writing and organization. That's what reading it was like. The technical sides of the book were so unobtrusively excellent that all I focused on was the message. I don't know higher praise for a book.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This book can change your life!, October 12, 1999

By	Arlene S. Hirsch (Chicago, IL USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

As a career counselor who often works with disillusioned and unhappy attorneys, I really appreciated Steve Keeva's book for its understanding of the inherent difficulties in practicing law and its wise and compassionate solution.

For unhappy lawyers who still want to practice law, but also want to enjoy it more, Keeva's book is an important reminder that, while we may not be able to transform a whole profession, each and every one of us has the power to transform ourselves. It takes just as much courage for lawyers to stand up for themselves as it does to stand up for their clients.

I thank Steve Keeva for writing this book and can only hope that his readers heed his message and heal themselves.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Truly outstanding!, August 19, 1999

By	Bonnie Y. Sawusch, RN, BSN, J.D., ([e-mail]) (U.S.A.) - See all my reviews

If you are a lawyer who feels overwhelmed, unfulfilled or just plain angry with your practice (or love someone who is) this book is your compass to happiness. Steven Keeva has found a variety of lawyers who love their work and he carefully analyzes why. He will guide you, step-by-step, back to satisfaction, or show you where it is if you have never been there. Better yet, buy this book for an aspiring lawyer at the beginning of the journey...it is the best gift you could offer.