Going on a daily run — even a run to work. Embracing meditation. Cooking for and eating with family. Sweating on an exercise bike. Dancing twice a week. Walking a dog.
These are some of the ways that Harvard Law School faculty members prioritize their well-being in a demanding profession.
“I love being a lawyer,” Professor Christopher Bavitz, vice dean for experiential and clinical education and faculty co-director of the Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society, told students during a discussion on well-being. “And the things that I love about it are exactly what make it so hard. Even in the best of times, my job is to sit at a desk and have a client walk in and dump a really hard set of stuff on the table in front of me.”
The Sept. 16 event was moderated by Grace Shrestha ’27 and Arnaaz Ameer, an S.J.D. candidate, both members of the Student Well-Being Working Group, which hosted the event with the Dean of Students and Office of Community Engagement, Equity, and Belonging and The Well, the law school community’s initiative to destigmatize mental health and prioritize well-being
Bavitz was joined on the panel by Beatrice Lindstrom, a senior clinical instructor in the International Human Rights Clinic; Diane Rosenfeld LL.M. ’96, founding director of the Gender Violence Program; and Daniel H. Yi, a senior research fellow at the Center on the Legal Profession.
Shrestha said the discussion, held annually, was especially important in today’s turbulent times.
“In this season of upheaval in law, policy, and legal education … taking this moment to pause and reflect and hear from faculty and also think internally about what’s been going on at the law school and beyond is really important,” she said. “How do we protect our well-being and stay whole while the legal and political ground keeps shifting?”
Rosenfeld said the times are difficult, but urged students to think of themselves as participating in “a moment in history.”
“We have a past, and we have a future,” she said. “The idea is to focus on the positive.”
Because that’s not always easy, the faculty members offered their own experiences and perspectives as examples. Their advice also reflected a broader theme of the discussion: that protecting well-being is not separate from legal work but can be a vital part of doing that work effectively and sustainably.
Finding routines that support mental health
Bavitz, who is also the managing director of the school’s Cyberlaw Clinic, said that he tries to incorporate the arts and nature into his routine. Each morning, he walks with his dog to a place where he can easily “lose sight of all houses.” He also encourages others to engage with the arts even if they don’t have their own creative hobby.
“Putting yourself in the context of things much bigger than yourself can be incredibly rewarding and incredibly grounding,” he said.
Rosenfeld told the audience that she meditates each morning and night in addition to riding her Peloton bike regularly and dancing twice a week. She said she learned early in her career to prioritize sleep.
“Exhaustion is not an emotional phase … [it’s] not a mood I can talk myself out of … It’s a physical state,” she said. “Sleep is really, really, really important.”
Yi started running regularly when he worked at the U.S. Department of Justice. On his runs, he incorporates a practice he learned from one of his colleagues from that time, who recommended identifying a handful of tasks that Yi wanted to accomplish in a day. Yi said the idea is “so smart and very simple,” giving him a sense of control over what will happen in the next few hours.
“I still maintain my position as an actor; I’m not just a passive respondent to the world,” he said.
Well-being as part of legal practice
Lindstrom said students and lawyers should think of their own well-being as part of their professional responsibility.
“Think about incorporating your well-being into your practice as lawyers and currently as law students as not antithetical to doing the work but actually as critical to doing the work well,” she said. “You can’t serve your clients and the causes you believe in in an effective and sustainable way if you don’t also figure out a way to incorporate that protection of well-being.”
In addition to cooking and enjoying meals with her family, Lindstrom said she tries to encourage her students to find humor and joy in their everyday work.
“I try to make that a part of my daily practice,” she said.
Rosenfeld urged students to remember that their education and expertise give them power and agency in their lives and the world.
“It’s unbelievable how much you can help other people and how much you can change things by believing in your vision and moving forward with it,” she said.
Want to stay up to date with Harvard Law Today? Sign up for our weekly newsletter.