From Chapter Ten: Practicing Integrative Law

What most of the people profiled in the previous seven chapters have in common is that they are part of a growing number of lawyers who have begun taking what may best be described as an integrative approach to law practice. Whether they refer to themselves as holistic lawyers, integrative lawyers, or conscious lawyers--or prefer no label at all--they are talking about much the same thing: an orientation toward law practice that shuns the rancor and bloodletting of litigation whenever possible; seeks to identify the roots of conflict without assigning blame; encourages clients to accept responsibility for their problems and to recognize their opponents' humanity; and sees in every conflict an opportunity for both client and lawyer to let go of judgment, anger, and bias and to grow as human beings.

In order to do this, lawyers who practice holistically set as their goal not only to resolve conflicts, but also to heal the rifts that keep people in pain and denial. Some of them eschew litigation entirely, while others will go to court under certain circumstances.

In contrast to the traditional legal model, the holistic model is about relieving suffering. Another difference is in the very concept of relief, which is traditionally understood in the Black's Law Dictionary sense as "the assistance, redress, or benefit which a complainant seeks at the hands of a court. . . . " Monetary awards, injunctions, or the rescission of a contract are, for the holistic attorney, only part of the solution, often the least important part. They may, in a sense, "fix" the problem, but they do little to address the underlying causes, or the pain and disorientation that the client may continue to feel. To facilitate a process by which the client can truly become whole again, other kinds of relief must also be made available, kinds that are limited only by the participants' imagination and vision. Some of the ingredients that holistic lawyers might employ in order to really relieve suffering are helping the client to let go of anger, helping to foster forgiveness, encouraging the recognition of one's part in a dispute, and supporting the recognition of others' perspectives. All of this can be, and ideally is, empowering for the client, and gaining a sense of power-of potency in the world-can itself restore a sense of integration and well-being.

Holistic lawyers practice in a wide variety of settings, in big cities and small towns, in government and corporate law departments; they do civil rights work and family law, employment law and transactional law; they are prosecutors and public defenders.

It is probably safe to say that most holistic lawyers see nothing oxymoronic in the use of the words "joy" and "law practice" in the same sentence. That's largely because they make a determined effort not to separate their personal and professional lives; it's part of the holistic outlook--work and nonwork are both part of the unity that is each person, and that unity is in turn part of larger unities, including family, the community, and, ultimately, the universe.

(Chapter includes lawyer profiles, sections on mediation and collaborative law, and suggestions on how to move toward a more integrative law practice.)