Holiday Deadlines

As we get closer to the holiday season, deadlines get tighter and tighter. Deadlines of when we have to get holiday gifts ordered, or holiday cards in the mail. And of course as our jobs wind down for the year, we run into deadlines there as well. And this can cut into effective work-life balances.

This came up in a recent reply brief that I saw, arguing that the briefing schedule would require the attorneys to work over Christmas. Many of the comments I saw from legal professions regarding this brief were quite dismissive because so many of them have had to work over holidays in the past.

The merit of that particular reply brief aside, I couldn’t help marvel at how many legal professionals had worked during the holidays as well. While this shouldn’t have been surprising to me, it was nevertheless concerning to see right there in front of me.

As a profession, we need to do a better job at recognizing that legal professionals are people first, with friends and families. We need to recognize that the legal profession as a whole benefits from practices that acknowledge that reality and allows for work-life balances.

In recent years we’ve seen attempts to make the legal profession more diverse, more equitable, etc. And those efforts are worthwhile and should be promoted. Yet we also need to make the profession more balanced, with room for wellness for those in the legal profession. That is what the LegalMind Society is working towards and we hope others will be joining us.