The Mindfulness Blog

Several years ago, the American Bar Association ("ABA") published a piece about the Wellbeing Pledge Campaign, declaring that: "During the second stage of the Campaign, a Commitment Form will be circulated annually-- asking participants to describe any steps taken toward the objectives set out in the framework during the previous year and related to the Pledge".

In the absence of any public announcement to suggest otherwise, one can only assume that the "second stage"-- which is about accountability-- has not yet begun. And years later, the clock is still ticking. Even more distressingly, a close reading of the piece published by the ABA makes it clear that the "Pledge" has never had any teeth-- it was passed and circulated among our law firms without any enforcement mechanism. None, nada, ninguno.

I guess the politics are complicated-- they're clearly more important than the wellbeing of the men and women who are the legal system, here in the States. It's no wonder, then, that so many of our law firms continue to virtue signal their support of wellbeing, while continuing to delay the day that they'll ever have to actually do anything about it. Same old, same old.

One can't really blame the ABA-- for all it's history and trumpeted professional sway, it's apparently just another trade association whose monied constituents have their own priorities-- and individual wellbeing isn't one of them. That's the way the wellbeing cookie crumbles.

I'll continue to advocate for lawyer wellbeing, and the larger cause or workplace wellbeing, but I won't any longer place much faith in the influence of the ABA-- that was a pipedream, borne of naivete
and wishful thinking.

Then again, none of that is a really surprise-- after all, I'm a Cubs baseball fan!