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1999

[Review of] George Kaufman, The Lawyer’s Guide to Balancing [Review of] George Kaufman, The Lawyer’s Guide to Balancing

Life and Work: Taking the Stress out of Success Life and Work: Taking the Stress out of Success

Sherman L. Cohn Georgetown University Law Center

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information (chapter 13's list of "transfer-able skills" is imaginative and comprehen-sive), the bulk of the valuable information isnot in the 250 pages of text but found in theappendices, which give thorough listings ofjob descriptions, job options, and job searchresources. These alone take up 130 pages,are well organized, and may be exactly whatsomeone asking the title question is lookingfor. The preceding text can simply serve asa cheering section when needed. Which is,after all, the mission of self-help books.

In fact, perhaps Arron's advice on inter-views in chapter 25 sums up the creed ofself-help books in general: "It doesn't reallymatter what you say, as long as it's some-what plausible."

THE LAWYER'S GUIDE TOBALANCING LIFE AND WORKTaking the Stress Out of Success

By George KaufmanABA Law Practice Management,1999, $49.95

Reviewed hy Sherman L. CohnProfessor of Law, Georgetown UniversityLaw CenterIn recent years there has been much

self-examination within the legalprofession. On the macro scale, SolLinowitz, The Betrayed Profession,compares, not favorably, the profes-

sion of today with that which he knew inthe early decades of his practice. Dean An-thony Kronman, The Lost Lawyer, andMary Ann Glendon, A Nation UnderLawyers, use their skills as scholars to ex-amine the profession on a more objectivelevel. On the micro level, Deborah Arronled the way with Running from the Law,which tells of talented overachievers whostood out in law school and judicial derk-ships, and then found large-firm practicedisastrous.

More recently Mark Perlmutterweighed in with Why Lawyers Lie and En-gage in Other Repugnant Behavior. Perlmut-ter described his own experience and hisown wrongdoing in a way many of us couldrecognize on a personal level, and thenchronicled his route to recognition of hismalady and what he did about it, providingus with a prescription for how to cure ourown tendency to "lie and engage in other

repugnant behavior."George Kaufman's new book, The

Lawyer's Guide to Balancing Life and Work.-Taking the Stress Out of Success, is in thesame genre. Kaufman describes his ownlife in the law-top schools, associate in aprestigious New York law firm, partner inhis own economically successful firm, in-house counsel in the corporate world-aswell as his own dissatisfaction. Havingmade his journey, Kaufman reached out tohis fellow lawyers to help them search forthe cause of, and a remedy for, their un-

ETEA

happiness. In the process, and borrowing

from others who have explored the per-sonal growth field, Kaufman created a se-ries of practical exercises by which we canmeasure our own level of satisfaction ordissatisfaction with the practice of law, ex-plore the cause for any unhappiness, anddesign a remedy.

Thus, like Perlmutter, Kaufman leavesthe macro exploration of the profession toothers. Kaufman focuses on the individual,starting with himself, but dearly aiming athis readers. We are asked to take a goodlook at ourselves. Are you happy in thepractice as you are doing it? Are you awareof the cost that you are paying for the suc-cess you have achieved? Do you know whyyou are so driven? Do you really want tocontinue living life the way you are livingit? If not, do you want to do somethingabout it?

Arron tells of Running from the Law,and in her new book (reviewed above), she

tells us about alternatives to the practice oflaw. Kaufman helps us explore ways to stayin the law while altering those factors thatcause dissatisfaction. Perlmutter asks us tolook at, and remedy, one distasteful aspectof the practice of law: the tendency of manylawyers to indulge in repugnant behavior,often with no awareness of what we aredoing. Kaufman's book is much broader inthat we are asked to explore the totality ofour practice and our lives, and to help thatcore of what ails us before nature removesthe opportunity to do so.

Kaufman borrows from the techniquesof various personal development coursesand experiences that have proliferated inthe past few decades. His contribution isthat he reshapes the material so that it ap-plies directly to lawyers and the practice oflaw. Unlike Linowitz, Kronman, andGlendon, he reaches out to us as individu-als and invites us to examine who we are,how we arrived at our present position, andwhether we are satisfied and, if not, to dosomething about it. Moreover, he pre-scribes a route to achieve results that willmake a difference.

This book is a valuable contribution andshould be required reading for all who are atleast five years out of law school. (Beforethat we have too little experience to knowwhether we are happy or unhappy with thepractice of law.) And it should be reread onat least five-year intervals. While TheLawyer's Guide to Balancing Life and Workwill not be known as great literature, anddoes not aim at remaking the profession as awhole, it can do much more--lead the indi-vidual lawyer to a life of greater satisfaction,even if that means leaving the practice.

Crossword Solutionsfrom page 51

H A IC K M A N S C 0 T T

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N Y E E L B CIRc P D T AU R A

L A A G A PT KE Y

A R IMIY R Y I S AM

L EE K 1 L 1 N T O

A N D R Y OP I N 10 N

W A YIN E RIC H A R D

THE WASHINGTON LAWYER - MAY/JUNE 1999 53