Judges support YLD’s health and wellness initiative
Judges support YLD’s health and wellness initiative
Rawan Bitar
Associate Editor
To stand outside and hear the birds sing in the morning is a simple pleasure that anyone would take for granted unless they were faced with a life-threatening circumstance, just as Justice Barbara Pariente did when she had breast cancer in 2003.
She is part of a discussion among judges on the Young Lawyers Division May Health & Wellness Month to bring awareness to the mental and physical stress often associated with the practice of law. The judges shared advice, personal interests outside of work, and thoughts about the value of creating balance in one’s life.
Judge Claudia Isom, 13th Circuit
“When I first got to law school, one of the first events was a kegger. So from the very beginning of my legal education career, I learned that a lot of people use alcohol to manage stress. Young lawyers need to think of more healthy ways to handle their stress than resorting to self-medication…some people use alcohol to handle stress, and that’s probably not a good long-term plan for a successful legal career.
“About midpoint in my judicial career, I went to a women’s group where they had a speaker talk about career goals and think about what makes you happiest. She had us fill out this little questionnaire, and at the end of the program, I realized, based on the questionnaire, what made me happy was singing, hiking, and going to the mountains. I decided that my hidden self must want to be a character in The Sound of Music.
“I advise young attorneys to have extracurricular activities that are nonlaw related. Yes, I like to sing. I sing in a community choir. I love to hike. My husband and I have done a lot of hiking over our almost 42-year marriage, including the Grand Canyon and the Inca Trail. We like to go to the Smoky Mountains.
“For me, the perfect stress reduction is to go outside. All of your problems look smaller when you’re outside doing something physical and active. Not getting so bound up in a single case, or a single issue, or a single relationship, and obsess about that. At the end of the day, it’s your own mindset and attitude that is creating this stress. If outside activities are creating stress, recognize that you need to cut out those activities.
“I have four children. I had my first child in law school, and fortunately, I have an outstanding partner who is my husband, who has been supportive…we co-parented. For young attorneys with families, I always recommend to them, if they’re going to do professional activities, to try to schedule them during times when they already have a babysitter. Do the lunch meeting…so that you’re not feeling guilty because you’re robbing your children of your presence. Then, after hours, do volunteerism where you can involve your family. When my kids were at home growing up, I tried to have my after-hours volunteerism be things that involved them or enhanced their lives.”
Chief Justice Jorge Labarga
“As lawyers, we work very, very hard. Long hours, under a lot of stress, and we really do need to take some time to take care of our health. We need to see doctors regularly, and we need to also get into some exercise program so we’re not sitting all day.
“The most stressful thing that happened to me was actually not related to the law. I was diagnosed with having melanoma underneath my fingernail in one of my fingers, and I had to have the finger amputated. Every three months, I go see a dermatologist, and I go see an oncologist still, but I’ve been cancer-free now for six years, but there is that stress, because they tell you that melanoma has a way of coming back…. As far as the law is concerned, I’ve been a lawyer now for 35 years and I do not recall a day when I did not feel stress.
“When I was a lawyer in West Palm Beach, we did not have this 80-hour a week [workload], but every other night, I ran nine miles. That was a lot, but that’s just me, and I did that for 15 years. I would think about my cases as I was running. If you’re going to run long distances, you can’t be thinking about how much more you have to run, because you quit. So you have to get into another zone — you’re thinking about something else, so I would think about my cases, and I would practice, and think about my closing arguments….
“What I do now, here in Tallahassee, is I walk rapidly. There are hills here, so I walk up and down hills. I figure I walk about 45 minutes every night. I go home, I watch the evening news, then I walk for 45 minutes.
“You have to find the time because part of your obligation is to stay well, and exercise is really good. It doesn’t mean you have to run like I used to, just find something where you can get out and sweat a little and then come back to work. You have to do something. You can’t just sit.
“It’s all tied into physical issues with being sedentary and also mental issues, emotional issues, because stress really takes a toll on you. You have to figure out a way to deal with stress, otherwise you’re not going to be a happy lawyer and people should enjoy what they do for a living. It is work. It’s something you want to do, and managing stress is a major component of the practice of law, if you want to be effective.
“You have to figure out a way to deal with [stress] because you have a family, you have a wife, and you will have children, and when you come home, you want to go to the Little League games or the soccer matches. You want to participate in their lives, and you don’t want to be a grouch the whole time you’re around them, so there has to be that balance and people need to find it. You have to make time to take care of yourself.”
Justice Barbara Pariente
“I think that these efforts are terrific. It’s important to start thinking about these aspects of one’s personal and professional life immediately upon becoming a lawyer — or before that — in law school. It’s a philosophy of life.
“I was diagnosed in 2003 with breast cancer, and I had to go through my three surgeries. I had to go through chemotherapy. I never really missed time as a justice, but when you go through those types of life-threatening events, it does provide you with an opportunity to reevaluate what’s important in life. Whether you can wake up in the morning, go outside, and hear the birds, and enjoy a beautiful day….
“Inevitably, it will happen, whether it’s your own self, or within your family, or extended family, or friends; with anything that is life-altering, you have two choices: You can either say I accept it, but I’m going to embrace the part that’s positive; and I’m going to try to change the negative.
“[I take] long walks. I love being in nature. I love being with family and friends, and I enjoy going to the movies, reading an excellent book when I have a chance, and also doing things that are worthwhile within the community. There is nothing more satisfying than helping others in reaching out — young people and young lawyers — you see that they appreciate what you’re doing, and that’s very positive.
“Your kids, your family, life is a continuum, and you ought to seize the opportunity in the early years to enjoy those aspects of your family, to be there for your children. I had my son when I was 29, and I was in a high-powered position as a litigator, and I ended up going back to work after three weeks. For men in the profession, they’ve got to recognize that this is equality, and they have to help with the child rearing.
“There’s a quote that at the end of your life it won’t matter what the size of your bank account is, but have you made a difference in the life of a child? That is a big thing for me. But it’s really within your family, and that happens when you’re younger. It would be a serious mistake to neglect that.
“I’m always amazed…with these young lawyers who win those pro bono awards. They devoted hundreds of hours to pro bono, and so many lawyers say ‘I don’t have time’…how do they make that time? They make that time because it’s a priority for them. I happen to be against the curse of the billable hours that has enslaved so many attorneys. There ought to be more creative ways to evaluate someone’s worth, and I think that has caused a great deal of malaise within the younger lawyers who feel they’ve got to toe the line on that.
“There’s a lost firm culture. Hopefully with young attorneys, if they collectively advocate for their need for balance with their professional life, and still can be on the partner track, then that is key….There are choices that lawyers make, whether they go into government service, public service, if they go in with a smaller firm, and they ought to be asking about that philosophy. If an hourly requirement actually means that the lawyer cannot leave before 8 o’clock at night and has to work weekends, there’s something wrong with that.”
Judge Gary Flower, Duval County Court
“It’s amazing that the Young Lawyers Division has shown this much interest in the health of its members, and the Bar, and judiciary as a whole. I think their push is going to save lives.
“My wife and I go to the gym every morning at 5 o’clock. Going to the gym with my wife gives us time together, strengthens our bond, gives us time to talk outside of our house.
“I used to be involved in martial arts from 12-years-old all the way through law school and got away from that because life got in the way. A busy and demanding schedule at work. I used to work 70 hours a week plus as a lawyer. I was working so much, I couldn’t do martial arts, and I fell into the rut of working on Saturdays. I was making more money, but I certainly wasn’t happier. Most of the time, clients have great needs. There is a lot of moving parts in the practice of law. Then, something has to give. I had stopped working out for years.
“What I loved about martial arts for years is that it was multibeneficial: It gives you self-control, self-confidence, an aerobic workout, and you learn self-defense. You know, exercise is trendy, too. People are now going back to the cross-fit training, the simple exercises that the military [did] back in the first World War: Jumping jacks, push-ups, pull-ups. You didn’t need specific machines. There is a big trend toward cross fit without special equipment. We’re rediscovering what we knew a century ago.
“While there are certainly pressures to be successful, and do well, and build a good reputation among your colleagues, your partners, and the bench — you were engaged with other people before you became a lawyer. Step back away from what you’re doing and demand balance at some level. Whether it’s nothing more than taking 30 minutes to do something that’s important [to you] during the day.
“It’s very easy to get into work ruts. It’s hard to extricate yourself from the pressures of trying to be successful, but I would say…do as I say, not as I did. From the health side of it, pay yourself first…and that’s not in currency, but balance. It could be going to the library to get a book [you’ve] always wanted…write a personal thank-you note instead of sending an email or a text. Reconnect with being a human.”
