The Soul of the Law

by Benjamin Sells

Overview

One of the most important work-life balance books in the history of the legal profession, this ground-breaking title is now a special 20th anniversary edition, featuring an all-new epilogue from the author. This eye-opening book examines the mentality that tears down lawyers and offers ideas for bringing balance back into daily lives, society, and the law. You’ll find answers to questions like:
• What's happened to truth, justice and the American ideal?
• What’s gone wrong, why, and what can be done about it?

Explore the realities of undeniable professional dysfunctions, how they impact the American justice system and those who practice in it. By living the advice in this book you can lead a quiet, normal, happy life in spite of the world around you. It's a must read for anyone who contemplates the law or being a lawyer, and is essential reading for those already in the field.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781627222983
Publisher:	American Bar Association
Publication date:	01/07/2015
Edition description:	20th Anniversary Edition
Pages:	192
Sales rank:	1,283,218
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

Benjamin Sells, a former practicing attorney and psychotherapist, is now retired and living in Riverside, Illinois.

Table of Contents

Preface to the Twentieth Anniversary Edition xi

Foreword to the First Edition xiii

Acknowledgments xv

Introduction xvii

Macrocosm: Law and Profession 1

Chapter 1 What Does the Law Want? 3

Order, Obedience, Obsession 8

Disorderly Conduct and Civil Disobedience 11

Chapter 2 How the Law Thinks 15

Giving Process Its Due 16

The Scales and the Sword 19

Objectivity and the Case Method 20

A Sidebar on Stress 23

Life Begins at Law School 27

The Cult of Individualism 30

The Law and the Word 33

Chapter 3 How the Law Works 37

Order and Organization 37

Partnership and Property 41

Inside and Outside 47

Is Time Money? 51

Chapter 4 The litigious Mind 61

The Litigious Mind 63

Litigation and the Fear of the Unknown 64

Are We Afraid to Mediate? 66

Why Do We Sue? 67

The Lawyer as Symbol 70

Interregnum 75

Microcosm: The Lawyer 79

Chapter 5 Tyranny of the Mind 81

Tyranny of the Mind 82

Rebellion and Breakdown 88

Depression and the Decline of Beauty 91

Suicide 94

Addiction as a Variety of Religious Experience 98

Workaholism and Other Work Disorders 103

Chapter 6 lawyers in love 111

The Impostor Syndrome 112

Love and the Single Lawyer 115

The Conflict-Adverse Lawyer 119

Bridging the Gap 122

Chapter 7 Staying and Going 129

Cope or Quit 129

The Myth of Job Development 133

The Longing of Success 137

Coming to Terms with Loss and Failure 139

Chapter 8 Soul Values 145

The Moral Imagination 148

Dilemma Ethics 151

The Codification of the Legal Mind 153

Life Below the Clouds 158

Controlling Law 164

Notes 167

Index 171