Lawyers probably work in one of the most stressful environments that exist. If they are in private practice, they have the stress of working to provide their clients the information, advice and services that the client is looking for when the client wants it. If they are in-house counsel or in the public sector, they have employers, bosses who want information, advice and strategy when they need it, not on the lawyers’ schedule. As well, lawyering is such that sometimes there does not seem to be any clocks and everything else can be put aside including family, friends and one’s own personal well-being.

When a lawyer starts feeling in trouble, the typical knee-jerk reaction is “I cannot admit that I am in trouble because I will be in danger of losing my position or be disparaged for being weak”.

So, the individual doesn’t say anything and continues on. Ultimate extreme reaction is that the person simply loses it entirely and takes some drastic action that can destroy their life. They do something bizarre, as it’s the only way that they can draw attention to their plight. Case in point – a University Professor known to be highly competent and highly liked, out of the blue attacked his wife with a knife. It turned out that he was deeply depressed and highly stressed. His bizarre conduct was a cry for help that was heard, but it also destroyed his career!!

The culture must be that it is okay for lawyers to seek help. They do not have to solve everything themselves.

Help can be found in a way that does not expose the person.

A short anecdote can illustrate clearly how this might come to pass. A lawyer who worked 14 to 16 hour days and was doing so for years was struggling, and was not getting help. Driving down the freeway one day when somebody cut him off he got angry and started chasing the person. He was stopped for excessive speeding. When the police officer came to this car, the lawyer was shaking and told the police officer he really didn’t understand why he had done what he did. The police officer reduced the speeding ticket but said to the individual, “I really suggest that you go talk to somebody.” The lawyer was so shocked by this incident he went to his family doctor who referred him to a psychologist.

The lawyer started working with the psychologist and his family doctor. Within twelve months, the lawyer was back on track with a completely different perspective. The lawyer was able to do this without having to announce it to the world. He was able to share his story with the people he needed to and trusted. The point of this story is twofold. One, you can’t deal with the issues of stress and depression by yourself. You need to reach out. Secondly, you can do this reaching out in a way that can be handled with discretion.

The challenge remains for all of us to accept that depression is like a broken leg, it is an ailment that needs treatment and care and you do get better! We must all fight the stigma that surrounds mental illness and remind the world that it is simply an illness like any other!

Written by John D.V. Hoyles

John Hoyles is the Chief Executive Officer of the Canadian Bar Association, Vice-Chair of the Ottawa Regional Cancer Foundation who put on the boxing match between MP Justin Trudeau and Senator Patrick Brazeau and is an avid golfer.

by Tom Ullyett*

Cross country skiing is Canada's sport. This is almost sacrilegious to say within living memory of the recent national celebration of hockey known as "Hockey Day in Canada". Don Cherry would beg to differ and probably label me a wimp (until he found out that I was the penalty leader in my 9-team hockey league). But folks, really, "xc" skiing has been with us for over 100 years. Consider Exhibit A: The Montreal Ski Club started to offer xc ski trips into the Laurentians as early as 1905. To top it all off, any Canadian with Scandinavian blood would say that xc skiing was for their ancestors a method of transportation for hundreds (if not thousands) of years. Clearly, this is an ageless sport and it deserves to be Canada's sport.

Canada has developed some world class cross country ski facilities like the Canmore Nordic Centre in Alberta, the Callaghan Valley near Whistler and the Hardwood Hills near Toronto. We also have world class skiers who win medals in World Cup races (Devon Kershaw and Alex Harvey) and at the Winter Olympics (Chandra Crawford & Beckie Scott). Then there's our big loppets that feature thousands of skiers like the Canadian Ski Marathon near Ottawa, the Gatineau Loppet in Gatineau, Quebec and the Canadian Birkebeiner near Edmonton. And, let's not forget, the iconic "Jackrabbit" Johansen who skied well into his 90's and gave his name to Canada's most popular youth xc ski program.

Whether or not you agree with the statement that xc skiing is our national sport, it's a past-time that all lawyers should consider including in their recreational repertoire. Why should lawyers take up cross country skiing? Well, for one, it's a stress reliever. We all know that lawyering is a stressful occupation. We need an "outlet" to burn off that stress. For many, that means a recreational activity. Okay, so maybe you don't have a world class cross country ski facility 5 minutes from your office like I do, but you don't need one. Sure it's nice to ski on flawlessly groomed trails, but that's not necessary to go for a rejuvenating ski. If you have a park or golf course close to your home or office, then you are probably good to go. Along the way, you'll probably increase your fitness level, lower your blood pressure and meet a few like-minded folks carrying on a long-held Canadian tradition.

My friends in the Niagara Region would say, "Well this is all fine and good, but we don't get enough snow to ski on anymore". Don't let that stop you because there are alternatives! Take it inside by going to you favourite gym and using the machines that are close to xc skiing like the elliptical trainer or a xc skiing machine like a "Concept 2" Ski Erg. If you aren't a gym rat, then invest in yourself by purchasing one of these pieces of equipment and placing it in your favorite room at home. Heck, while training you could listen to the radio, an iPod with favorite music or even the CPAC's coverage of proceedings in the Supreme Court of Canada.

Finally, if you stilI aren't convinced of the joy of xc skiing, then let's think beyond the two boards you might have had on your feet. After all, you don't have to xc ski. There are many other stress relieving options. For example, although I'm a hockey player, runner and alpine skier at heart, I have come to learn the joys of less risky, non-pounding activities like speed walking, yoga and road biking. I know you'll figure it out, but, in the meantime, I look forward to the weekend when I can go xc skiing again!

_______________________

*Tom Ullyett is a lawyer with the Yukon Department of Justice, the Vice-Chair of LPAC, the President of the Whitehorse Cross Country Ski Club and an avid xc skier.

by Cheryl Canning*

I was recently engaged in a discussion about the importance of resiliency in the workplace. The topic intrigued me. I had never really thought of resiliency as something that would be a necessity in the workplace. In my mind it was more about the ability to cope with personal crises. Through a series of recent events however, I came to appreciate its importance in all aspects of life, and I have developed my own theory as to how to build up one's resiliency. My theory has not been tested or proven through scientific study. It is merely the result of my own observation.

The year 2011 was going along at a normal pace with nothing really extraordinary happening. Until October. In October one of the senior partners at my firm was appointed to the bench, which caused an flurry of activity within the firm as people scrambled to make sure the files and clients were all well taken care of. This partner was also part of our management committee, so that left a vacant position. I took on some of the files, and discovered that one of them was scheduled for a three week trial in just over a month. Another one was heating up to the point where a number of discoveries would have to be done within a few weeks. My carefully planned schedule, which already included a number of discoveries and another trial, was suddenly jam packed and actually overlapping in some cases.

I also stepped into the vacated position on the management committee, which was something entirely new to me. I've always considered myself a lawyer and not a business manager. I wasn't sure how to merge the two. To add to the challenge, as part of my new duties, I took on two major projects that were at a crucial point and required a great deal of care and attention.

It was at this same time, that my brother passed away. This one event, in and of itself, changed my life and the way I looked at the world. I had been lucky enough to never have lost a loved one before. The grieving process was new to me. I felt as if with one phone call, a piece of my world had been wrenched away, never to be returned. In the midst of all of the work-related changes that were going on, I now had to face a very personal and permanent change.

I was asked to deliver the eulogy at my brother's memorial service. Saying no was simply not an option in my mind. I knew I would go, but the thought of dropping everything that was happening at work to fly all the way across the country for the memorial service threw me into a complete panic.

Work life balance is a topic that is discussed so often it has almost lost its meaning. As a lawyer, a wife and a mother of two boys, I constantly feel the competing pull of work and family. I practice the balancing act each and every day and try my hardest not to fall too far to one side. The competing interests of my work and the need to face the loss of my brother was an entirely different situation. I couldn't see any possible way to maintain the balance at that point. I couldn't fathom the thought of not going to the memorial service, but I also couldn't see how to take the week needed to go and not have some sort of catastrophe at work.

I had my moments of tears, of rage, of frustration. In a moment of pure clarity though, I knew what my priority was, and what I had to do to ensure that the fallout on the other side of the fulcrum would be minimized. I knew that I would take the trip and give it my complete attention. I knew that before I left I would prepare my work to address true emergencies, and have everything set up to be resumed on my return.

In short, I suddenly knew that I would be okay. I will always miss my brother. I will still have lots of work to get done. I still have to deal with the new and unfamiliar challenge of managing a law firm. But I will be fine.

Not everyone gets through those sorts of challenges okay. For some, major changes, especially when they come one on top of the other, are a stress that is just too much. The person breaks down, either temporarily or less often, permanently. Why do some make it through and not others? Why was I one of the lucky ones?

I know that there are lots of theories and expert recommendations out there on how to increase one's ability to face adversity, to be resilient. In my own observation and experience though, I believe that a commitment to work life balance on a daily basis will naturally lead a person to a place in which they are more capable than others to face and cope with change.

Achieving work life balance is something that requires patience and daily practice. You need to work at it consistently. When you do, you become accustomed to facing daily stresses and challenges. It becomes easier. When your life is not balanced, you are constantly in a state of flux, vulnerable to the unexpected.

I like to think of work life balance as the training ground you need to be able to perform at the big event. A runner wouldn't go out and run a marathon without training for it. If they did, their body would revolt against them. It would be shocked by the new and unfamiliar stress that has suddenly been thrust at it, and quite simply, it would break down. I believe that your mind is much the same. A stressful event such as the loss of a loved one or being asked to take on new duties (or both at once) is the marathon. If you can get through it you will be stronger for it. If you aren't prepared, you will be humbled and weakened.

You need to train for the marathon. You need consistent attention to your lifestyle to be ready to finish the marathon intact. Daily attention to maintaining your balance will leave you calmer, more focused and better capable of facing the challenge ahead.

My life isn't always balanced. Sometimes, like when a trial is approaching, it feels entirely unbalanced. But like having a bad run or suffering a injury, you have to be patient, do what needs to be done and wait for the time to pass. Then you can return to the balance and continue the training.

As for me, I am at about mile 21. The worst is behind me and I can see the finish line. My legs are burning and I can feel the pain but I know that once the marathon is over I will live to run another race. Because I am resilient.

———————-

Cheryl Canning is a partner at Burchells LLP in Halifax, Nova Scotia. She is the Atlantic Representative for LPAC and Chair of NSLAP.

The push towards the importance of work-life balance began during orientation week of my first year at law-school. Work-life balance (or study-life balance as it was back then) was emphasized as integral to surviving law school, and pursuing a healthy successful career. I recall one professor recommending that students should treat law school like a “9 to 5 job”. He suggested that students should spend the mornings and afternoons tackling classes and readings, so that they could use their evenings to unwind, socialize and pursue their favourite hobbies. I took my professors advice, recognizing that there were days that I might have to work and study for longer than that, and found that having a set schedule for completing my readings, assignments and classes did actually make it easier to balance work and school, and benefitted my social life outside of the law school.

As I entered the world of articling in the summer of 2008, stories emerged about the long hours students and lawyers worked. It’s safe to say that, generally, law is not considered a “9 to 5 job” and that the adversarial nature of the occupation can have a toll on ones emotional and physical well-being. With strict deadlines and set hearing dates, there are often longer work days, and sometimes one may find themselves tasked with consecutive weeks of working extended hours as a result of a lengthy trial or complex business transaction, for example. Being a young lawyer can also sometimes mean being assigned with lengthy research assignments or voluminous document review for senior counsel, while also balancing the responsibility of your own case load.

I first experienced how important work-life balance was during my very first Supreme Court trial in British Columbia. It was two weeks into my articling year, and I was second chair for what was anticipated to be a 5 day personal injury trial. I was tasked with giving the opening introduction of our client’s case, conducting some of the direct examination, and presenting our client’s closing submissions to the Court, and I knew I had to be well prepared for every possible scenario that could arise at trial. At the time, I lived in Summerland, BC, a 40 minute drive from the Kelowna based firm I work at. This meant that, beginning the week before trial, I was driving into Kelowna at 6 am in the morning, and usually getting back to Summerland late in the night. It was an exhausting (and very rewarding) experience, and when the trial concluded, the lead lawyer and I went for dinner to chat about the entire experience. He thanked me for my assistance, and told me about his experience balancing the busy schedule of a litigator, with familial obligations and his social interests. He encouraged me to take a couple of days to unwind, spend time with those close to me, and focus on catching up with my favourite hobbies.

For me, living in Kelowna provides a variety of seasonal recreational activities to balance my work and my life. With the cooler fall season approaching, I’ve just come back from a morning hike with my wife, and in a couple of months the hikes will be replaced with weekend day trips up to Big White to ski. In the spring we often find ourselves on weekend road-trips to the coast and in the summer, beach volleyball and hot sunny days floating on inflatable chairs in Lake Okanagan provide hours of relaxation.

In the end, all of the advice I received fell into the same growing theme: it does not matter what it is that provides you with the necessary balance between your work and your social life, what is most important is that you take the time to for activities outside of the work place, and activities that you really enjoy, whether it be catching up with the newest best-selling novel, joining a sports league, dance class, wine-tasting club, spending time playing board games or watching a movie with your family.

Jasroop Grewal

by Elke Churchman*

Giving back is a way of life for me. It is fulfilling and has made me a much better lawyer, a better family member and a better member of society.

It has not always been that way. I was very narrow and grasping in my focus and cut off from the world. I lived in a nightmare of my own mind. Never feeling good enough but at the same time feeling I must pretend that I was better than, an egomaniac with an inferiority complex! I never fit in and felt I had nothing of value to offer society.

I was sure that my law degree was given to me by mistake and that I was not worthy of it. I felt that I had no right to a place in the legal community. Looking outside my office or home windows I feared that others would find out just how incompetent I was in all aspects of my life. I felt like a fake who was always on the look out to be found out.

I grew up suffering from the effects of a violent, abusive, alcoholic father. Little did I know that alcoholism was a disease and could be inherited. When I was a little girl my mother would often be in distress and I would ask her what would help her. She, a new immigrant to Canada, would respond “a good lawyer”. I took this to heart and so voila, that is what I aspired to. However the legacy of my father shaped my view of the world. I feared the world and thought it a dangerous place and I had to be continually on the ready to do battle with it. I was in some fundamental sense-broken.

Then I found alcohol in my thirties. What a relief! It took away the nightmares and for the first time in my life I felt that I could possibly fit in and feel normal. However, alcohol is a cruel master. One needs more and more of it to get to that feeling of “normal”. It extracts a heavy penalty for continued use. It takes your soul and leaves you spiritually, morally, emotionally, physically and (quite often) financially bankrupt. Alcoholism is a chronic, progressive and fatal disease. There are only three outs at the end of the downward spiral of alcoholism, institutionalization, death or recovery.

As I plummeted down that alcoholic spiral, outside I looked like I had it all; career, husband, three kids, house and pool, all the trappings of success. On the inside I was dead. I saw the world through “a glass darkly”. It prevented me from joining in and taking part of life. I was failing in my profession. I was paralyzed with fear. Even the simplest of tasks such as feeding my family, paying bills or answering client calls were insurmountable obstacles in my alcoholic prison. My world was crumbling; my health failing, the Law Society asking questions, SaskPower threatening to cut off power, the family concerned. Suicide was on my mind on a daily basis as a viable way out. 

He cannot picture life without alcohol. Some day he will be unable to imaging life either with alcohol or without it. Then he will know loneliness such as few do. He will be at the jumping-off place. He will wish for the end.
Alcoholics Anonymous p. 152

I was filled with such disgust and shame that I could not ask anyone for help. Fortunately my (then) husband was at the end of his rope and he forced me to seek help through Lawyer’s Concerned for Lawyers (LCL), the Saskatchewan lawyer assistance program. Through them (kicking and screaming on my part I might add) I entered an addiction treatment program and then joined Alcoholics Anonymous. This momentous fork in my life took place 13 years ago and I have been a member of Alcoholics Anonymous since July 1, 1998; happy, joyous and free.

The first years of sobriety were tough. One of the many challenges I faced was regaining my practicing license. In an act of fear (as I truly believed I could no longer cope) I had resigned from the Law Society of Saskatchewan prior to going into recovery due to “medical reasons”. Thus I had the task of proving to the Law Society that I was now fit to rejoin the practice of law. This process took the better part of year and a lot of ranting, raving and gnashing of teeth on my part. I thought the Law Society was being hard on me, treating me unfairly and being unreasonably slow. In fact they were being supportive and cautious. They provided me with the time I needed to ground myself properly in my recovery and in the AA program. The Law Society certainly has a mandate to protect the public but they also provide support to lawyers. I have phoned them at times over the last years for advice and information and they have always responded in a positive and helpful fashion.

Once in AA and working the program I began to enjoy a freedom from the slavery of alcohol and began to experience a freedom from fear; fear of people, of failure, of economic insecurity, of rejection. I began to enjoy freedom to be myself and to love and be loved and the freedom to grow spiritually. I no longer feel that I don’t fit in. I no longer hold tight to life so as to crush all the beauty and joy out of it. I can now enjoy all the gifts (and challenges) that life has to offer as the AA program has given me tools to do that.

I joined the Board of LCL in 1999 to give back. I have held various positions on this Board and continue to give of my time to this organization. I am in the process of preparing a proposal for organizing peer volunteering in association with LCL in Saskatchewan. I joined the Board of Legal Professional Assistance Conference (LPAC) a few years ago. LPAC is part of the Canadian Bar Association and is dedicated to helping lawyers, judges, law students and their families with personal, emotional, health and lifestyle issues. I attend the annual LPAC conference and the annual American Commission on Legal Assistance Programs (COLAP) convention. I do this in order to obtain information and resources to help lawyers in Saskatchewan with all sort of issues not just alcoholism. Issues such as: work life balance, sexual addictions, coping with stress, drug addictions, aging in the profession, gambling, internet addictions, and depression. 

The statistics are extremely discouraging for lawyers. For example 20% of the normal male population and 8% of the normal female population suffers from alcohol problems at some point, compared to 67% of male lawyers and 71% of female lawyers ["Lawyer distress: Alcohol-related problems and other psychological concerns among a sample of practicing lawyers," (1996) 10 Journal of Law and Health, Beck, Sales & Benjamin 1-60].

Another troubling example is that lawyers suffer from the highest rate of depression of all professionals in the United States. They are 3.6 times more likely to suffer from major depressive disorders than the rest of the employed population. Approximately 121 million people worldwide are afflicted with major depression and it is the leading cause of disability. ("Lawyers With Depression," paper presented by Daniel T. Lukasik, Esq. at the 2010 COLAP Convention in Indianapolis, Indiana)

I am now the most miserable man living. If what I feel were equally distributed to the whole human family, there would not be a cheerful face left on earth. Whether I shall ever be better I cannot tell: I awfully forbode I shall not. To remain as I am is impossible. I must die or be better: it appears to me.
Letter by Abraham Lincoln, January 23, 1841.

Although my disease is alcoholism not depression, it had much the same effect on me. I can so relate to the words of this great lawyer. In recovery I have become “better” and did not have to “die”. 

I give freely of my time in Alcoholics Anonymous. I owe my life, serenity, happiness, family, friends, career and freedom to AA and these various organizations and the fact that they so freely gave to me and accepted me. We have a saying in AA that unless we give it away we cannot receive it. “It” being our very souls and the essence of life and love. One of my favorite quotes from A.A. literature is as follows:

…I can give back to A.A. what A.A. gave to me! Giving back to A.A. not only ensures my own sobriety, but allows me to buy insurance that A.A. will be here for my grandchildren.
Daily Reflections, p.220

I feel I am truly one of the most blessed people on earth and I am grateful to be a recovering alcoholic. God has given me sober days and a life blessed with peace and contentment, as well as the ability to give and receive love, and the opportunity to serve others-in the A.A. fellowship, my family and my community. For all of this, I have “a full and thankful heart.” 

If anyone is identifying with some of what I have shared please seek help from your lawyer assistance program, peers, friends, professionals, co-workers, anyone at all. If you take even one step towards recovery you will be amazed at the relief that you will experience.

I will end with another favorite quote:

A hero is an ordinary person who finds the strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles.
Christopher Reeve

________________________________________

*Assistant Manager Legal and Technical Analysis, Occupational Health and Safety,
Saskatchewan Ministry of Labour Relations and Workplace Safety [back]

Research suggests that to be Canadian is to be a volunteer. A 2003 national survey found that 19 million Canadians do volunteer work every year. This is estimated to be 2 billion hours of volunteer time per year. That's equivalent to 1 million full time jobs. The same survey found that only 7% of volunteer time consists of sitting on board, while the other 93% finds people helping to deliver programs and services or fundraising. Another national survey found that Canadian volunteers contributed, on average, an astonishing 166 hours each in 2007.

If Canadians are serial volunteers then Canada's lawyers are amongst the A-list of Canadian volunteers. The incidence and volume of volunteer hours by lawyers seems to be higher than the national average. For example, the vibrant northern city that I live in (Whitehorse) has about 130 lawyers and it seems that virtually all of them are volunteers — often for several organizations at the same time. The lawyers in my community invest tens, even hundreds, of hours a year in everything from sitting on a board of directors for a women's shelter to their children's school activities to sport organizations like minor hockey and, of course, to the CBA, law society or other law related organizations. And often it's done in a very quiet way. Just the other day, I learned that a lawyer in my office who I see every day is up to his ears in volunteer work. Yet, he has never blown his own horn or complained about how busy he is. But he must be very busy because he works full-time, has a family and, on top of that, he's the chair of the board for the local literacy association, a member of the board for the public legal education association, the past president of the local branch of the CBA and a volunteer with an ethnic association. No wonder the guy sometimes looks tired!

But there are perils to too much volunteering. Looking at it negatively, the volunteer work you have to do today, this week, this weekend or this month is just another drain on your energy and time and can be a significant stressor. Volunteer work is just that, it's work — though often very enjoyable work. Nonetheless, it has to be factored into the overall work-life balance equation that many lawyers struggle with. And it's not just lawyers with young children that may find themselves stressed by the pressures of work, family commitments and volunteer activities. Even lawyers who don't have children or whose children have grown up and left home may find the combination of work, family and volunteering too much at times.

A good volunteer is one who has the time and energy to be engaged in and responsive to their volunteer duties. To do so, one has to have some measure of self-awareness about how much volunteer work they can take on. For many, this is a skill learned over time as they mature through their adulthood. I love to volunteer and have done so for many years, but I haven't always displayed much self-awareness about how much time I actually have to do the required volunteer work. As a result, to keep up with volunteer commitments, I have often found myself getting less sleep than I need and — I hate to admit this — putting family time on the back burner.

Even though I'm over 50 and my children are in their early 20's, I'm still learning how to pace myself with volunteer work. For instance, this week I'm setting a very bad example for all volunteers because I've taken on way too much. Outside of my regular full-time working hours, I'm attending a Law Foundation meeting, working on ski club business as a member of the board, doing some of the administrative tasks relating to a CBA charity event that's happening at the end of the month, reading a book about mental health for an on-air book club that is live next week, attending an LPAC board conference call and writing this blog.

So, by all means, lend your talents to the community through volunteering, but don’t forget that volunteering has to be part of work-life balance that lawyers of all ages so desperately seek. If you need help with this, have a close look at your life and be honest about what you can take on, speak to a close friend or call your provincial/territorial lawyer assist program or LPAC's 24-7 Helpline (1-800-667-5722).

Thomas E. Ullyett
Vice-Chair, LPAC
Assistant Deputy Minister, Legal Services
Department of Justice
Government of Yukon

Over the years many in our profession have come to assume that part of the compromise we must make in order to have a robust practice includes sacrificing holidays, leisure time, and family time.

The longer I practice the more I question this way of thinking. I am far more productive when I am rested and rejuvenated. You likely would be also.

On a regular basis one should keep in mind that you need to maintain your soul and mind as well as your body. So, in addition to exercising, getting enough sleep, and paying attention to a healthy diet try to ensure that you also engage in activities that are relaxing and enjoyable such as conversations with good friends, time at the spa, or reading a good book. Do whatever works for you.

However, even if you regularly do things to relax and unwind it is still important to take holidays each year.

Canada is a nation that provides limited “legal” holidays or minimum vacation days when compared to the rest of the developed world. Despite this, countless vacation days go unused each year. Many people, for whatever reason, do not feel that they are able to or choose not to take time off. Some feel that they have too much work to go on holidays. Others feel they have to meet certain targets or are concerned about their job security. Rightly or wrongly my sense is that this problem is often more profound for those of us in the legal profession than it is for the rest of Canadians who are working away alongside us.

When a lawyer does go on a holiday staying in contact with work and clients by checking e-mail and voice-mail is commonly expected (either by the lawyer themselves or their clients and colleagues). I know lawyers that have taken calls and e-mails while riding a horse on an African safari or while fishing in remote and pristine arctic waters.

The profession of law has somehow led many of us to think of practicing law and generating billable time as productive and taking vacations as non-productive. The prevailing theory seems to be that the more you work the more time you can record. The more time you record the more you can bill. The more you bill the more you can get paid. People who work long hours and do not take holidays are rewarded in most legal environments. Perhaps the better theory should be that a vacation is different but equally productive time. The happier and healthier a lawyer is the more he or she will enjoy their life, part of which includes the practice of law. If you enjoy your work more and are more productive, both your life and your practice will benefit.

Try and enjoy some vacation time this year. Take a little bit longer holiday than you were intending to take. Chances are good that you will not be disbarred or fired when you return. Go somewhere new, become more courageous when it comes to local delicacies, take an adventurous trip, talk to strangers, and explore some out of the way places. You’ll be glad you did.

Dana D. J. Schindelka

Last month I wrote about the recent birth of my second son as being a happy reminder to keep things in perspective and to maintain balance in my life. With the winter solstice approaching later this month, this is perhaps the most important time of year to make balance a priority. Darkness is depressing. Going to and from work in the dark makes us feel as though we're living in a cave. Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) is a clinically recognized phenomenon, particularly for those of us living far from the equator. Added to that are the complexities of the holiday season with it's unrealistic expectations, onerous obligations, demands for travel and the need to service a broad spectrum of relationships in a limited amount of time. If you're a lawyer in private practice with a December 31 year end, add the financial pressures of meeting your billing targets for the year. For those of us in a profession that puts us at high risk for depression and anxiety at the best of times, these dark cold winter months can be the worst of times. This month I want to share what I do to fight back against the darkness in the hope that it might inspire some of you to find a similarly healthy hobby (obsession?).

This is my favourite time of year because it's cross-country ski season. I grew up cross country ski racing and I remain heavily involved in the sport. The first year I met my wife I persuaded her to learn to ski and to actually complete a 55 km marathon (during which she apparently reconsidered our relationship). My 12 year old son is also a fine skier and the sport remains one of those increasingly rare opportunities for us to share relevant time together, training and travelling to races. My wife and son and I also teach kids and adults to ski and for the past five years we have arranged the annual year end wind-up with races for all of the kids in the club.

Last year, I finally followed through on my long-standing daydream to groom a trail in the city park across the street from my home. It's a lovely spot with sports fields, gentle hills, and a bike path, bordered by a lazy flowing river with a well-treed bank. In the summer it's a veritable hive of activity. In the winter, not so much. After the snow flies, the traffic is limited to a few joggers and dog walkers on the bike path. I often thought that this would be the perfect spot for an urban ski trail. I also had a selfish interest in being able to walk across the street to go skiing. Last year I spoke to the ski club as well as other groomers about what would be involved and was immediately provided with overwhelming support. Another individual who grooms an urban trail loaned me a previously decommissioned skidoo of his and the ski club promptly delivered the necessary equipment to the park. The ski club also arranged for the City to provide me with a permit to operate the skidoo in the park. I was taken aback at the speed with which those in the know accommodated my request and profusely thanked them for their kindness and generosity, to which they replied, "No, thank YOU".

On my very first attempt to set the trail, it became apparent that the accommodation was likely made to lock me into following through on my promise before I realized what I had gotten myself into. Grooming a cross country ski trail isn't so easy. Part road-builder, part Zamboni-driver, part greens-keeper, it requires a little bit of art, a touch of science, and a lot of backbreaking labour in the cold. Following the instructions of those with experience, I first packed the trail just with the skidoo, being stopped once to show the police my permit. I then used the skidoo to pull two separate implements, the first of which packs, levels and puts a corduroy finish on the snow for skate skiing. This is called a skate drag. It looks like a farming harrow and weighs about 300 lbs. Even hooking it up to the skidoo was a workout. It was fine so long as I stayed on the packed trail, but the moment I strayed into the soft powder, it submarined and hopelessly buried itself in the snow. The skidoo sat there uselessly spinning its track as I came to the disappointing realization that it would be necessary to disconnect the drag from the skidoo and man-haul it back onto the track. This was a devastating event requiring what felt like unprecedented feats of strength while wearing several layers of wool and down. It was an hour before I was up and running again. That first night, I think I got the skate drag stuck 4 times. As I wallowed in the snow, drenched, panting, and completely exhausted, I profanely wondered aloud what was I thinking? Isn't just actually cross country skiing hard enough? Nonetheless, I did feel some degree of satisfaction when I pulled the second (and much lighter) classic track setter around the course to make those deep and perfectly parallel rails that are so nice to ski in. It looked something like what I've seen at resorts and at our club's other groomed trails. Satisfaction aside, when I arrived home that night I complained to my wife that in the five hours I spent sweating out in the snow, that I could have driven to the existing groomed trails to ski 20 times and that it may have been a mistake to take this on.

The next day, I rushed home from work to go for a ski to try out my new trail. I was quite happy with what I had done. The 2.5 km course seemed to get the most out of the park, climbing and descending what few hills were there and taking advantage of trees and bushes to block the prevailing Northwest winds. It was a luxury to be able to walk out the door and ski, without having to load equipment into the car and drive to the trail. What impressed me more was the fact that there were other people out skiing on it already. I spoke to each and every one of them and they couldn't believe someone had done this just to make it nicer to ski and how happy they were to have a groomed trail in their own area.

The winter went on and I kept at it. With practice and conditioning, I became more efficient and the process became easier. My son and sometimes his friends often joined me in the effort, happy to go for a ride on the massive twin track skidoo which he named the Bateau de Neige. Still, it was a 1 ½ to 2 hour commitment at least twice a week, depending on what the wind and snow had done to the trail. I still had my frustrating moments with the equipment, my sore back and frozen fingers when I would inevitably engage in the unhelpful mathematics of how long it would take me to just drive to one of the existing trails to ski. This said, I skied almost every day largely because I now had no excuse not to. Moreover, I had developed a following. It was a rare event to be alone on the trail and there were often as many as 20 people using it at once. Some of these people were competitive racers to whom I was proud to show off my creation. Even more satisfying though were the many people who said that they had dusted off skis that had been sitting forgotten their basements, now that the proximity of the trail had made it so easy for them to get out. By the beginning of March, the park was as busy as it was in July and I would regularly see people skiing down the back alley to the trail park while I sipped my Sunday morning coffee. In my hours-based lawyer thinking, my analysis shifted from the selfish consideration of whether this endeavour meant more skiing for me, to how many hours of physical activity by others were spawned by my effort. So many people who otherwise may have languished in the dark, were now out there embracing winter.

This really set the hook for me. Over the off-season I invested in my own skidoo and have once again resolved to make this little seasonal gift to the community. I also bought a ski kit for our baby's bike trailer so I can get my workout in while giving him a nice ride.

I don't expect that any of you will go and start grooming a ski trail. Although I do hope that some of you will be inspired to go for a ski. If skiing isn't your thing, then I hope that you will at least be inspired to regularly do something active in the outdoors over the next three months so you can fight back against the darkness and maintain a measure of balance in your lives.

James N. Korpan

As a lawyer who has been heavily involved in my Provincial Lawyer Assistance program and with the CBA’s National Legal Professionals Assistance Conference, I have travelled all over Canada and even ventured into the United States to either speak to, or hear others present, on the topic of lawyer’s wellness. Many of these discussions focus on our collective need to achieve a healthy work-life balance. This isn’t surprising, given the consuming nature of our profession and its demands on our time, mental and emotional energy. Employing our well-trained critical eye on the intricacies of other people’s conflicts can be exhausting. These are some of the reasons why law outpaces virtually every other profession in the incidence of anxiety, depression and other forms of cognitive distress. The only ones who come close to us are dentists. I guess it’s just simply easier to teach yoga or arrange flowers than it is to extract a tooth from a diseased mouth or an abusive spouse from a troubled home.

This is why it’s doubly important in our profession that we achieve balance in order to maintain our health and our ability to work sustainably. This concept is more easily discussed than attained. I’ve tried to practice what I preach by remaining physically active and by regularizing the little things that help me put the job into perspective, whether this be a walk with the dog, a wrestling match with my 12 year old son, getting out into nature or by sharing a well-cooked dinner at home with family. 

Sometimes though, it’s easy to let the good habits slide and to get caught up in the catastrophies of those who come to us for solutions. Sometimes the daily grind starts to grind us down and we forget that it’s just a job. When this happens, we can stay mired down until real life steps in with a reminder of what’s important. This last summer, I received my reminder in form of a brand new baby boy. When my wife went into hospital with complications over a month before her due date, I dropped everything to be present and to focus on doing what I could to assist. After a long week, she had our baby and as Samuel Otis Korpan let out his first cry I felt the awesome awareness that we are small players in something infinitely greater. All of the overwhelming chatter and self-manufactured angst that I had been ruminating over in my effort to deliver solutions was silenced by the knowledge that real life trumps everything.

Others are not so lucky. Sometimes real life comes in painful events such as the death of a loved one, or learning that you have cancer, or barely surviving a heart attack. My hope in writing this blog, is that all of you who read it will be more mindful of our greater purpose and do what you need to do to maintain perspective.

James Korpan JKorpan@mcdougallgauley.com

The highest of distinctions is service to others.

– King George VI

I’ve been fortunate to have been presented with a number of opportunities to volunteer and provide support to many worthwhile organizations and causes since I started practicing as a lawyer while I’ve actually never stopped to consider why I volunteer until now. When I did pause to contemplate my motivation I realized a number of things. My volunteer activities have ranged from volunteering at a music festival, and acting as a moot court judge for a law school, to being on the board of various volunteer organizations such as the Canadian Bar Association, Legal Profession Assistance Conference, the Alberta Lawyer’s Assistance Society, Saskatchewan’s Lawyers Concerned for Lawyers, and the Athol Murray College of Notre Dame Alumni Association. Each of these experiences has been positive. In fact, I can selfishly confirm that I probably have received more out of my volunteer work than I have put into it. Volunteering has become a rich and rewarding part of my life. I have found that my volunteer activities remind me of what I value as important. They also help me maintain some semblance of balance in a time where it seems that the practice of law is becoming more and more demanding on a nearly monthly basis.

In my view, it truly doesn’t matter what it is you volunteer to do as long as it is something that you find meaningful and worthwhile. Lawyers have a long-standing tradition of volunteering their expertise and there are thousands of lawyers across Canada who regularly volunteer their time and energy as coaches, mentors, board members, advisors, as well as in many other capacities.

The reasons that, like myself, so many lawyers find volunteering to be such a rewarding experience are varied and many. Perhaps some agree with Marian Wright Edelman, a children’s activist, who said that “service is the rent we pay for being. It is the very purpose of life, and not something you do in your spare time.” I’m sure others are motivated by different considerations. Each time you volunteer you are highly likely to meet new people that you would not otherwise meet. This is obviously good business. By expanding your social circle you are actually engaging in informal marketing. There are also less fiscally motivated reasons to volunteer. You will likely expand your interests, meet new friends, reap the rewards of having done something good for someone else, build your self-esteem and self-confidence, increase your level of personal satisfaction, add experience and depth to your resume, further develop your “people” and communication skills, share your talents with others, experience the pleasure of being challenged by doing something different, and actually have an effect upon the community in which you live.

Take some time to consider what the most meaningful sort of service for you would be. You may want to support a cause that is important to you. You may also wish to address a need in your local community. Others may wish to join family or friends when they engage in their volunteer work. Once you’ve made the decision about what you want to do, it’s easy. Volunteer. You will be making a contribution to society by sharing your skills and doing something meaningful with your friends and colleagues.

Not only will volunteering make you better prepared to fulfill your duties as a lawyer, it is likely to make you a better friend, a better spouse or partner, a better parent, a better son, a better daughter, and a better citizen because it will, in short, make you better prepared to live and to appreciate your life.

Dana D. J. Schindelka

I’m a litigation lawyer who practices in Calgary. I was called to the bar in 1997 and I have practiced at two firms in two different provinces. I’m also a board member of the Canadian Bar Association’s Legal Profession Assistance Conference, Saskatchewan’s Lawyers Concerned for Lawyers, and Alberta’s Lawyer Assist Program. I know of many individuals who have a better work-life balance than I do.

I’m told work-life balance is properly understood to be a healthy prioritizing between “work” (ambition and career) on the one hand and “life” (family, pleasure, and leisure) on the other. My failings at achieving a perfect work-life balance have been, on occasion, profound. Often in the past when I got busy at work my life shrunk to the office, take-out food, an occasional pub stool and my bed. Telephone calls and visits with family and friends have, sadly, sometimes felt like burdens that got in the way of work.

I thought I knew how to simultaneously have a tremendous career and a well balanced, healthy life. I wanted it all – the perfect practice and the perfect personal life. But then something happened a couple of years ago. I actually took some time to reflect. My legal career had been more successful than I had ever hoped it would be. Even my mother was shocked. However, my personal life left something to be desired.

I realized that I was in my late 30’s and I’d never been off the continent. The vast majority of my trips were work related – not holidays. While I had a thriving career I had long ago stopped playing hockey, squash, and chess, and no longer enjoyed things such as live music or theatre nearly as often as I used to. I hadn’t been on a bike since the 1990’s. I lived near the Rocky Mountains but rarely went out to hike in them. I had unintentionally replaced these activities with my new hobbies: a smidgen of extra work, a speck of extra weight, a little less physical movement, a dollop of angst, a pinch of stress, and a splash of draught beer.

I realized that I am not very good at balancing my work with my life and I have now stopped aiming for perfection in this balancing act. A person can have a brilliant career but that doesn’t mean you must sacrifice having a brilliant life. They are not mutually exclusive. Since I gave up on having it all be perfect (both my life and my career) I’ve made some positive choices. This has resulted in a much more balanced existence.

The small choices that have brought me a semblance of better balance have been profoundly radical decisions such as: take holidays (in the past two years I’ve been to England, Ireland, Argentina, and Uruguay), ride my mountain bike more, go kayaking with a friend, visit with family every chance I get, keep in regular contact with friends, eat healthier and better, make time for things that I enjoy such as reading, listening to music, playing sports, and engaging in other healthy activities that I actually enjoy. Much to my surprise I’m still able to hold down a job. I haven’t been disbarred or kicked out of the partnership while at a concert or on a hike.

I could still shed a few pounds, finally quit smoking once and for all and, in a perfect world, I would not have to regularly throw out half the fruit and vegetables that I religiously buy each week planning to have them consumed by the next weekend. But I don’t let it keep me up at night. My life is actually much healthier than it used to be. And that’s a good thing.

Dana D. J. Schindelka