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Everything is Fine

By: Eleanor (“Nell”) Tebbetts (JD ’21)  with a Preface and Afterword by Professor Abigail L. Perdue

Preface: Each spring during our final session, I invite my first-year Legal Writing students to complete an ungraded reflection exercise. I provide several prompts, one of which encourages each student to write a short letter to the person he or she was on the first day of law school. Nell’s funny and candid letter is reprinted below with her permission.

___________________________________________________________

Dear August 2018 Nell,

So here are the two things that really matter:

  1. Yes, you can do this…
  2. but you’re not always going to be the best anymore. Continue reading “Everything is Fine”
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Educating The Whole Lawyer: Mind, Body, and Spirit

By: Kathleen Elliott Vinson & Shailini J. George

“I am anxious, stressed, and tired all the time.  I have a headache, and my body aches. I feel stupid.  I’m not good enough. Why am I the only one who doesn’t get it?  I’ll never get all this work done.  I feel so overwhelmed.  I feel like I am surviving but not living.”

Does this sound familiar: negative thoughts, physical tension, anxiety, and stress?  You are not alone.  This message plays in the mind of many students, colleagues, and even clients.

Lawyer well-being should begin in law school.  While law school tends to focus on teaching students how to “think like a lawyer” to prepare them for practice, what about students’ psychological, emotional, and physical well-being?  How are students learning these important skills that are also essential in preparing them for the stresses of law practice?  They may be more important than you think to enhance lifelong resilience and success.  To be an effective advocate for your client, you must first take care of yourself.  It is hard to be a good lawyer if you are not a healthy lawyer. Continue reading “Educating The Whole Lawyer: Mind, Body, and Spirit”

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