Director's Blog

At long last, we have managed to get the Conscious Lawyer Discussion Board active. Don’t be shy - this is a terrific opportunity to interact with like-minded legal minds on a regular basis. It’s easy to use - all you need to do is register / login, and start sharing.  These Boards are fabulous tools for learning and connecting.  Â

Click on the tab entitled FORUM on the left, or follow this link:Â http://www.consciouslawyer.org/forum/ Â

Don’t hesitate to suggest the creation of new Boards - this is brand new and all discussion boards take time to ferment. I look forward to meeting, sharing and growing with you!

On Internet Radio:

Of Consuming Interest with James S. Turner.  Hear Conscious Lawyer’s Executive Director, Raquel Lazar-Paley and Law as a Healing Profession presenters James S. Turner, Stella Rabaut and Michael McCormack discuss our upcoming programs and presentation format. This interview was broadcast live on Friday, January 25, 2008 via Internet simulcast on The Progressive Radio Network.  Click on the following link to listen to the conversation (this is a network-based recording): http://turner.progressiveradionetwork.org/

After my experiences in Fiji, I spent the following year learning about consumer law and gathering presenters for a continuing legal education program I had outlined. This program (which will be presented online next Fall), entitled First Do No Harm, is aimed at educating lawyers about the social impact of the legal strategies that are currently being utilized in medical malpractice claims against and on behalf of obstetricians, and the overall health consequences of the rapidly increasing cesarean rate. Alternative methods of effectively representing the interests of both plaintiffs and obstetricians will be addressed. The program is also geared towards providing lawyers with a greater understanding of the U.S. maternal health care system and human rights violations in the area of health care choice, particularly as they relate to pregnancy and childbirth. I had convened a fabulous group of lawyers, researchers, and therapists to present, all hesitant about stretching their already busy schedules with additional travel plans.

While negotiating the logistical problems of how to implement plans for a live traveling CLE program, I experienced my first webinar. Being a visual learner, my experience was fabulous. I immediately began researching interactive online learning software systems. I came across WebEx, which is typically used by corporations for in-house training, and saw its potential as a device for highly interactive, online presentations. I literally “dragged” the presenters - approximately 10 of them at the time - to an introductory session. Despite their hesitation, they agreed that this was going to be the best way to get the message across. After three training sessions, many thanked me for “booting [them] into the 21^st Century.”

Suddenly, the circle of presenters expanded and I was being introduced to and contacted by lawyers who represent midwives, activists who are involved in legislation, medical doctors, midwives, chiropractors and others dedicated to making a shift in public perceptions on a number of issues. I also learned about the legal struggles they were facing, and through Jim, began to see systemic patterns inherent in the politics of marginalized groups.Â

My experiences culminated in the establishment of a business to provide online education forums. The two initial forums are Conscious Lawyer, Inc. for lawyers and Conscious Woman, Inc. (www.consciouswoman.org), that services a variety of professions that are concerned with women’s issues.

The initial programming for Conscious Woman on women’s health issues was easy to conceptualize and implement. Creative programming on legal issues is a different story. My knowledge was limited in this arena.

I believe that one of my greatest setbacks as a young attorney was to specialize far too early in my career. I wanted to be able to be extremely proficient in my work, and as a solo practitioner, had been encouraged to find a “niche” and find it quickly. Since I had no desire to be a litigator, I was going to be a transactional attorney. Although I had taken courses in negotiation and mediation in law school, and even volunteered at small claims court for a while, I never saw these as potential “careers” and failed to cognitively recognize their utility in daily practice - although they were skills I utilized on a daily basis. I never sought out other alternatives nor sought additional skills as a lawyer - seeing litigation or transactional work as my only options.

I knew that the vast majority of legal conflict is currently being handled outside the traditional court system, but was unaware of the emerging trends that are manifesting in the profession. The new initiatives and trends that are developing reflect individual and societal needs, as well as the personal needs of legal professionals. I have since found that contrary to common perceptions, the lawyers who are identifying and utilizing these trends effectively are engaging in careers that are profitable and personally fulfilling. Â

Jim suggested we begin Conscious Lawyer, Inc. with the theme: Law as a Healing Profession. It seemed an appropriate place to begin.

I began law school passionate about a career representing abused children. After getting through what I had considered a pretty useless first year, I was excited to begin an internship at the Public Defender’s Office during my second year. Finally, I would take the first steps toward fulfilling my purpose for being in law school. One morning, I was in Juvenile Court, ready to observe the proceedings. One of the matters involved the abuse of a baby by his young father, who - in a fit of frustration and anger - had squeezed his child’s head so hard that he fractured his son’s skull. The mother of the child kicked the father out, and was allowed to retain physical custody of her child while the child’s father obtained counseling and followed a court reunification plan. I was sitting in the attorneys’ room, reviewing my notes, when I noticed some commotion near one of the large windows that looked out onto the parking lot. The father’s van was parked outside the window, and a group of attorneys were looking out the window and into the van where the young couple was “reconciling.”Â

The lawyers were watching and laughing, and one declared:Â “They’re making a new client for us!”

That day in the attorney’s room, I realized that a career in juvenile court was not the right path for me. While the insensitivity of the lawyers was distasteful, what distressed me most was that nearly all of the seasoned attorneys I met during my internship were content with navigating through a bad system, without any inclination to use their knowledge and skills to affect changes that I knew they could accomplish with reasonable effort.

Because I had a positive experience working for a nonprofit community foundation and its grants committee, I decided to make a radical shift to Estate Planning and Tax Law.  After being subjected to an IQ test as part of a job interview with a medium-sized firm, I withdrew my application and chose to go solo (with three advanced degrees, I felt no need to wait around for the results of that test). Â

Despite an extraordinarily successful practice, I was personally unsatisfied with my work and regularly searched through periodicals for alternative legal careers. Finally, after a traumatic childbirth experience, I found myself  processing my experience by spending most of my time researching health law, which I had never contemplated before. I unearthed  some of the greatest human rights violations I have encountered, and which appeared to have no legal solutions.  I decided that I had had enough of the law. With a J.D., LLM in Taxation and less than ten years’ experience, I retired from the practice of law on my 37^th birthday.Â

My husband and I decided to move to Boulder, Colorado, take a sabbatical year to spend with our two young daughters and slowly build a new life for ourselves. While the contracts for the sale of my practice were being drafted, my husband and I traveled to Fiji to participate in a healing retreat with Donny Epstein, founder of Network Spinal Analysis, at Anthony Robbins’ Namale Fiji resort. At that retreat, I had the great fortune of meeting James S. Turner, one of the original Nader’s Raiders, author of The Chemical Feast: The Nader Report on  Food Protection at the Food and Drug Administration, and partner at the 35 year-old Washington, D.C. firm of Swankin & Turner.

One afternoon, I was sharing one of Anthony’s extra large bean bags with Jim. I shared with him my frustration with legal practice and my desire to find something more satisfying to do with my life. Jim was not about to let me say goodbye to the law. We exchanged contact information and talked about getting me involved in some of his projects.Â

Well, so much for a quiet year off.

to be continued….