Ways To Relieve Stress


From New Lawyers by Christian C. Mester


Christian Mester is an associate with the law firm of Janet, Willoughby, Gershon, Getz & Jenner, LLC, of Baltimore. His practice consists exclusively of representing victims of catastrophic injuries in the areas of medical malpractice, products liability and medical devices, and pharmaceutical liability, on the national level. He is a graduate of Brown University (B.A. Political Science) and the University of Baltimore School of Law (J.D. cum laude). Mr. Mester currently sits as Chair of MTLA’s New Lawyers’ Section.


I. Introduction


If you’re a litigator, stress comes with the territory. That stress is magnified for new litigators when you factor in our trial inexperience, legal inexperience, and law office inexperience. One of the main problems affecting new litigators is that stress from the office permeates every facet of our lives. Attorneys must juggle dead- lines, court dates, getting clients, keeping clients, long hours, managing the law of- fice, billing, keeping up with technology, along with time for family, a social life, community involvement, bar association activities and public services projects.1


In


a nutshell, there is never enough time. Furthermore, litigators are necessarily conditioned to take adversarial positions. Reigning in those combative tendencies when outside the practice of law brings on additional stresses all their own.2


Stress


can eventually wear anyone down, and too many medicate stress with alcohol or drugs.3


“The lack of civility and hos- tile climate that permeates the legal profession causes additional stress, and, today, attorneys must protect themselves by committing everything to writing, which consumes an enormous amount of time.”5 “Some stress is good.... [People] are able to organize their time, strategize, tackle the tasks and cross the finish line.”6 “Other people find it more difficult to deal with stress. They feel a loss of control.... They cannot handle the stress and develop negative feelings like anxiety, resentment, fatigue, anger and depression.”7


Alcoholism in the legal profes- sion is ten percent higher than the national average.4


1


Janet Stidman Eveleth, “Stress Invades the Practice of Law”, Maryland Bar Journal, Sep- tember/October 1999, Vol. XXXII, No. 5, at p. 2.


2 Id., at p. 3. 3 Id., at p. 2. 4 Id.


5 Id., at p. 3. 6 Id., at p. 2. 7 Id.


28


The Commission found that al- most half of the lawyers surveyed believed they had too little time for themselves or their families, and that only a fifth of the lawyers surveyed were very satisfied with the allocation of time between work and personal needs.9 So what can we do? While there are no simple answers, by learning to be more efficient at work and by implementing strategies to cope with stress appropriately, you can significantly reduce the level of stress in your life. The key, of course, is establishing balance. It is imperative that new litigators balance the stress of a law practice with outlets outside of the law that help us maintain our perspective and achieve a sense of control.


A recent survey performed by the American Bar Association’s Commission on Women in the Profession, asked law- yers about the culture of their legal practices and its effect on their personal lives.8


This article


will address ways for new litigators to re- duce stress by becoming more efficient in the office and will explore ways for new litigators to cope with the stresses inher- ent in litigation.


II. Efficiency and Law Office


Management in Reducing Stress Chances are you are spending much


more time at the office than anywhere else. If you hate going to the office in the morn- ing, your stress level will become unmanageable in short order. Working smart – that is, working efficiently – will go a long way in defusing many potential stressors. I have set forth below a series of suggestions to assist new litigators in increas- ing their productivity. No matter what suggestions you take or methods you use, however, the most important aspect is that the system is followed in every case so that your office runs as efficiently as possible.


8


Jennifer M. Horn, “How Are You Living?”, The Advocate, MSBA Vol. 17, No. 2, Win- ter 2001-2002, at p. 1.


9 Id. Trial Reporter


A. Preparation and Procrastination. One of the best ways to reduce stress


around the office is by being prepared. There is no such thing as too much prepa- ration or too much attention to detail. Spend the extra time to do something right the first time, and when trial arrives, you will be ahead of the game. As an ex- perienced litigator once said to me, “When a snake lands on your desk, kill it.” Simply, don’t let things that bite hang around on your desk. When a document crosses your desk, be prepared to deal with it then. Do not procrastinate. When you are able to complete an assignment promptly, your desk remains uncluttered and you can make sure you turn your at- tention to longer-term assignments.


B. Technology is Your Friend.


Technological innovations like cell phones and e-mail are a mixed bag. While speed and accessibility are increased, they foster expectations of total availability in or out of the office.10 breaks or down time.11


This means fewer However, you


need to use technology to your advantage. Entering information into the networked computer – whether it is telephone num- bers and addresses or scanned documents – is standard practice now a days. With the amount of travel and work from home that is done by attorneys, if you can have everything at your fingertips on a laptop or personal digital assistant (PDA), the more efficient you are. But you are only efficient if the infor- mation is current and accurate. It is a wise plan to update files at least one time per week. Also, entering due dates on calen- dars and making sure some type of tickler system is in place is imperative. Likewise, always request an ASCI disk at depositions. Not only does having the


(Continued on page 32)


10Id. 11


Janet Stidman Eveleth, “Stress Invades the Practice of Law”, supra, at p. 3.


Winter 2003


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