How does one go about achieving a clear pathway to satisfaction in their legal career? What’s the formula for lawyer happiness?
Nora Riva Bergman, business coach and author of “50 Lessons for Happy Lawyers: Boost Wellness. Build Resilience. Yes, you can!” provides a number of different strategies to help attorneys cultivate more happiness and positivity in their lives.
One of the lessons in the book utilizes data from the Krieger study, which identifies three predictors of happiness, including authenticity, interconnectedness and internal motivation and competence.
“Of these, authenticity is the most important predictor of our level of happiness in the work we do,” Bergman said. “Does the work you are doing connect to your own personal values? If it does, you’re likely to experience more feelings of happiness and satisfaction, not just in your work, but in your life.”
While it may sound like a simple question, coming up with the answer requires a multipronged approach that begins by identifying those values.
“What is important to you as a human being? Once that is answered, it can be measured against the work that you are doing as an attorney,” Bergman said. “If the work does not align with your values, chances are you’ll feel frustrated and will likely be more susceptible to burn out.”
Bergman and co-author, Chelsy Castro, devote an entire lesson to “Getting Clear on Your Why.”
“The lesson provides a list of values — abundance, acceptance, achievement, diversity, etc.,” Bergman said. “We challenge the reader to identify five to seven values,” Bergman said. “Once you are clear about your values, at the end of the workday take a moment to write a sentence or two about the work you did and reflect on it.”
Bergman recommends that attorneys do this for a few weeks and then review what is written to see if it is aligns with their values.
Bergman herself made a career pivot.
“When I was practicing employment law early in my career, I didn’t enjoy it,” she said. “Something felt off. I know now that much of my work was in conflict with one of my core values, fairness.
“Employment law litigation can be very acrimonious, and the outcome can often feel unfair. At the time I didn’t realize that I was experiencing a values conflict. That feeling of being ‘off’ was a lack of authenticity,” she said. “I knew that while I was successful, I did not enjoy the work.
“So, I made a career shift.”
For the past 20 years, she has coached lawyers as a practice advisor with Atticus.
“I help them in the areas that law school doesn’t teach — things like time management, effectiveness, how to lead a team, marketing — all those things that are part of the business side of a law practice. And yes, my work also involves helping lawyers cultivate more happiness in their lives.”
She said identifying one’s values is something anyone considering law school should do prior to starting.
“If you’re in law school, I recommend exploring as many different types of law as possible to make sure you find the right fit,” Bergman said.
“I believe there are a lot of unhappy lawyers who chose to do what they do for reasons such as money, fancy cars and nice homes,” she said. “While they may appear to be happy on the outside, inside they may be suffering.”
And Bergman said it could be due to feeling a lack of authenticity.
For more, read the article “Formula for lawyer happiness” in the Winter digital issue of The National Jurist.
Nora Riva Bergman is a law firm coach, author and certified Atticus Practice Advisor. As a licensed attorney since 1992, Bergman brings a deep understanding of the practice and business of law to her work with lawyers, law firms and bar associations. Nora has been a speaker at conferences for the American Bar Association, the Federal Bar Association, the American Academy of Adoption Attorneys, the National Association of Bar Executives, The Florida Bar and other national and regional legal organizations.
