The Mindful Lawyer Digest Logo
Summer 2014 Issue
Mindful Lawyer Spotlight
NW Lawyer Magazine Article
Mindfulness Events
Mindful Sitting Groups 

Doug Chermak guides an open, monthly sitting group that meets the first Wednesday of each month from 8:15-9:00 am and the third Wednesday of each month from 5:15 pm - 6:00 pm at Sundeen Salinas & Pyle, 428 13th Street, 8th Floor, in Oakland.  Join the announcement list by  clicking here.  

Tony Recio, featured in this month's The Mindful Attorney Spotlight, coordinates the DCBA/FBA Mindfulness Tele-Meditations.  To learn more and join in these convenient and relaxing 15 minute guided sitting from your home or office, click here.
 
Click here to learn about other Mindful Lawyer Sitting Groups.  
Featured Book:  
Yoga For Lawyers:   Mind-Body Techniques to Feel Better All the Time

 

A UNM law professor, Nathalie Martin, and former attorney/yoga teacher, Hallie Love, have teamed up to write about the particular benefits yoga holds for attorneys. They offer practices that can be done at home or while taking a break in court. 

Read about their inspiration to write the book here.

 

Available through the ABA online store.

Will Kabat-Zinn and 
Mindfulness for Lawyers
On March 10, Berkeley Law hosted meditation teacher Will Kabat-Zinn for a meditation and discussion of "how mindfulness can help lawyers stay grounded, connected to their values, and present for both the joys and sorrows of life and work." Click here to watch. 

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Douglas Chermak, Esq.

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

 

I hope this message finds you well and having a lovely summer.  Here is this month's edition of The Mindful Lawyer Digest, a service designed to share with you upcoming mindfulness programs, developments in the area of mindfulness in law, and to deepen our connection as a community.  We are going to be sending these updates out more regularly, so please write to me or contact IMS' Assistant Director, Christina Sava, if you have events or features that you would like us to include.

 

I especially want to highlight a new feature - The Mindful Lawyer Spotlight.  This month, we are featuring Miami attorney Tony Recio.  I am personally heartened learning more about individuals, like Tony, comprising the diverse group of mindful legal professionals in our midst.

 

Yours,

chermak sig 

Douglas Chermak

Director, Mindfulness and Law Program

Institute for Mindfulness Studies

The Mindful Lawyer Spotlight:
Tony Recio


The Mindful Lawyer Spotlight is a periodic feature where we introduce and get to know a little about a fellow attorney incorporating contemplative practices into his professional life.  
 
This month, the spotlight is on Tony Recio, a Miami attorney and proponent of mindfulness in his legal community.  Below are some snippets from an interview with Tony, which can be read in full at the Mindful Law Blog.  
 
What impact does your practice have on your professional life? 
 
There are obvious manifestations of the impacts of the practice, such as reduced stress and anxiety, but those are really more of a side effect.  The more important primary effects involve the training of the mind to focus with less distraction, to process occurrences with less reactivity, and to be more patient and mindful in thought, word and deed.
 
What advice would you offer other lawyers interested in contemplative practices? 

Practice, practice, practice... If you think about it, we have all spent most of our lives habituating ourselves to thinking and acting in certain ways, and we have done so with a daily "practice" involving repetition.  Changing those patterns requires the same amount of daily practice. 
Mindfulness and the Law featured in the NW Lawyer Magazine

"Making the Case for Mindfulness and the Law" was the cover article for the April/May edition of the NW Lawyer Magazine, published by the Washington State Bar Association.  In the article Professor Rhonda Magee describes mindfulness as having the potential to increase lawyers' "capacities for self-awareness and ethical civic engagement," and goes on to describe key developments between mindfulness training and legal practice in the last decade. Read the full article  here. 

 

Upcoming Mindfulness Events

Mindfulness in Law Workshop: FLAP
Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, Naples, Florida: August 1, 2014
Scott Rogers, Founder and Director of the University of Miami School of Law's Mindfulness in Law Program, and of the Institute for Mindfulness Studies, speaks on mindfulness at the 28th Annual Workshop "Get Involved, Stay Involved: The Next Generation" of the Florida Lawyers Assistance Program.  Click here for more information
 
Mindfulness in Law Program
Canyon Ranch in Tucson, Arizona:  Nov. 20 - 23, 2014
Various federal and state judges will be joining with attorneys at the first annual Mindfulness in Law program to be hosted at Canyon Ranch retreat center. Attendees are eligible for Florida CLE credits. The event is limited to the first 40 sign-ups.
If you are interested, contact Kelly Karston: kkarston@canyonranch.com, 520.749.9655 ext. 4262
See Flyer here
 
Applied Mindfulness & Advocacy Training for Lawyers
Vallecitos Mtn. Ranch in New Mexico: Oct. 8 - 12, 2014
The Institute for Applied Mindfulness and the Vallecitos Mountain Ranch are offering a 3-day master class for lawyers in two modules, first, teaching the art and science of mindfulness, and second, exploring effective advocacy and communication skills through applied mindfulness. Enrollment is limited to 20, and ethics and substantive credits are possible.  Click here to learn more.

 
If you have information on an upcoming mindfulness in law event, please let us know and we'll include it in an upcoming edition of the digest.