Recent Writing on Law and Happiness

In the course of a review of recent books on the hedonic level of lawyers\u27 lives, Professor Richard Delgado puts forward an explanation for the high rate of stress, anxiety, depression, and burnout among lawyers. Professor Delgado examines suggestions of leading authorities on how attorneys may achieve happiness, usually through extrinsic measures such as more vacations, exercise, or meditation. He also considers proposals on how supervisors can make legal workers more content, including more art work for the walls, windows with leafy outlooks, a basketball court, or more praise. Professor Delgado specifically criticizes the teachings of positive psychology, explaining that they hold little promise for lawyers and, indeed, open the door for chilling forms of social adjustment. The article concludes that lawyers will not be happy until the structure of the legal profession changes in fundamental ways, and propose a few