Contemplative Law Society holds inaugural meeting

Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer says he meditates 10 to 15 minutes twice daily.Contemplative Law Society (CLS) held its first meeting on Wednesday, Feb. 1.  The new student group seeks to enhance the traditional paradigms of legal education and legal practice through a focus on creating transformative approaches to the practice of law and legal education, based on principles of mindfulness and conscious living.

The group hopes to promote careers and a community characterized by deeper meaning, integrated conviction, compassion, and a holistic concept of self, society, and humanity.

“Mindfulness” refers to the practice of bringing one’s full focus to the experience of the present.

“The mindfulness movement has been making its way through the legal profession.  So it’s natural that students at the Law Center, would eventually form a student group modeled after the trend,” says Christine Sigurdson, 2L and CLS member.

The contemplative legal movement dates back to 1998, when a similar society was formed at Yale Law School for faculty and students.  Since then, the mindfulness wave has swept through the legal practice hailing such supporters as Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, who says he sits reflectively in silence at least twice a day for 10 to 15 minutes.

“For 10 or 15 minutes twice a day I sit peacefully. I relax and think about nothing or as little as possible, and that is what I’ve done for a couple of years,” Breyer told a CNN Health reporter last year. “Doing this makes me feel more peaceful, focused and better able to do my work.”

The practice is particularly relevant for lawyers, who lead notoriously high-stress professional lives, and are more susceptible to substance abuse problems.  The American Bar Association estimates that as many as 20 percent of American lawyers abuse alcohol or other substances.

The Contemplative Law Society hopes to bring balance to students’ lives. The club will host morning meditations in the St. Thomas More Chapel this semester, and is planning to host lectures by guest speakers including lawyers in the community that apply mindulfness to their practices. Many lawyers who practice mindfulness find that meditation and making an effort to be emotionally self-aware improves their lawyering as well as their personal lives. Contemplative Law Society members are also looking forward to connecting with similar student groups at other law schools.

Membership is open to all currently enrolled Georgetown University Law Center students. The Contemplative Law Society is not a religious group, but it is “spiritual,” in that members are committed to an outward expression of transformatively creating a more ethical, holistic, just, and compassionate legal culture.

If you are interested in joining the Contemplative Law Society, request to join the organization on OrgSync or email Carolyn Cadena at cac276@law.georgetown.edu. You can also attend one of the morning meditations in St. Thomas More Chapel, Monday through Thursday from 8:30 am to 9:00 am.