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Practicing What We Teach: The Importance Of Emotion And Community Connection In Law Work And Law Teaching, Ann Juergens

Faculty Scholarship

Personal satisfaction and fine lawyering go hand in hand. Legal education and the legal system, however, do damage to that coupling. The author suggests that lawyers and law students can thwart personal dysfunction and professional dissatisfaction if we allow ourselves to express joy and sadness. To avoid being depleted by grief and rage, which cannot nourish satisfying law work over time, the article suggests that we attend to connections with others (all others). Lawyers who connect with their own communities may have more tools for crafting solutions for clients whose problems often implicate community. As teachers, the best way to …