SBAND PRESIDENT
BALANCE BETWEEN
WORK AND LIFE IMPORTANT
IN THE PRACTICE OF LAW
CHARLES DEMAKIS
SBAND President
As fall/winter is now in full swing and
summer has wound down, it seems the
rigors of practicing law and being a lawyer
begin to pick up in intensity. The practice
of law and day-to-day functions of an
attorney can be stressful, time consuming,
and life consuming. I would venture that
most of us put in long hours, work at home,
work on vacation, and tend to forget about
the balance of work and life. It is vitally
important to balance the demands of the
practice of law with the importance of family
and personal time.
Lawyers spend countless hours helping and
assisting clients with complex issues affecting
their lives, but we seem to forget to focus on
ourselves and to take time for ourselves. Not
that many years ago I recall working long
hours all week, working at night, and then
again on the weekends. I realized I was not
spending any time focusing on myself or
my family. Constantly answering emails and
voicemails while on family time or vacation
was not healthy, and I realized something
had to change. I made the decision to focus
more on family and the things that made
me happy when I wasn’t working and less
on constantly billing hours. It changed my
practice and life for the better.
In doing some research on work/life balance,
I found most articles and authors focused on
the connection between work performance
and work/life balance. Interestingly, most
researchers found practice and productivity
went up in firms that had integrated new
practical models based on taking time away
from work for the attorney to focus on life
matters outside of the office. Some firms
have specifically targeted clients that focus
on the same flexible work/life balance theory
to pair with their firms and attorneys.
While most of us in North Dakota don’t
work for large firms operating under these
new models, it is clear work/life balance is
needed in our profession. There are a number
of ways to take time out from the hectic
life of practicing law to focus on the other
important things in life and enable us to
be better balanced, focused, and prepared. I
challenge all of you to take time out of your
professional life each day, week, and month
for yourselves and look at the different ways
you can incorporate ways to balance work
and life to better yourselves professionally
and personally.
Call for CLE Speakers
SBAND and the North Dakota CLE Commission
sponsor seminars and programs throughout
the year in all sorts of formats, including live,
webinars and IVNs.
We want to know about SBAND members who
have ideas for topics or who are interested in
being a presenter.
Contact Carrie Molander at [email protected]
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THE GAVEL