The Contemplative Lawyer: On the Potential Contributions of Mindfulness Meditation to Law Students, Lawyers, and Their Clients
Harvard Negotiation Law Review, Vol. 7, pp. 1-66, 2002
67 Pages Posted: 1 Sep 2009 Last revised: 22 Sep 2015
Date Written: August 31, 2009
Abstract
This Article proposes that introducing mindfulness meditation into the legal profession may improve practitioners' well-being and performance and weaken the dominance of adversarial mind-sets. By enabling some lawyers to make more room for - and act from - broader and deeper perspectives, mindfulness can help lawyers provide more appropriate service (especially through better listening and negotiation) and gain more personal satisfaction from their work.
Keywords: mindfulness, law practice, legal education, negotiation, active listening, dispute resolution, ADR, mediation, meditation
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