Thread about #vicarioustrauma and lawyering
Do you remember reading the Ford Pinto case in law school?
I do.
Do you remember reading the Ford Pinto case in law school?
I do.
The car’s gas tank ruptured, releasing gasoline vapors. A spark ignited the mixture, and the Pinto exploded in a ball of fire.
The driver died. The passenger was severely injured.
The driver died. The passenger was severely injured.
I was horrified.
I felt confused by the lack of discussion or even acknowledgement of what was so obvious — the sheer amount of human suffering lawyers come into contact with.
As a baby prosecutor, I was assigned to the domestic violence court.
I felt confused by the lack of discussion or even acknowledgement of what was so obvious — the sheer amount of human suffering lawyers come into contact with.
As a baby prosecutor, I was assigned to the domestic violence court.
The hardest cases were the mothers who would plead with the judge not send her abuser to jail, sometimes because she still loved him but more often because she was financially dependent on him. The fear of being homeless was greater than physical violence.
As a prosecutor, saw images I’ll never be able to unsee. I heard stories I’ll never be able to unhear.
After that, I practiced consumer bankruptcy law.
No one comes to see a bankruptcy lawyer with happy news.
I remember a widow with small children weeping for her husband who died after a long battle with cancer, now faced with the prospects of filing for bankruptcy.
No one comes to see a bankruptcy lawyer with happy news.
I remember a widow with small children weeping for her husband who died after a long battle with cancer, now faced with the prospects of filing for bankruptcy.
Law school did not prepare me for the moment when the people in the case law would sit in my office. Inconsolable. Broken.
And realizing how limited our legal system truly is.
And realizing how limited our legal system truly is.
It turns out, mastering IRAC or legal analysis or legal research or trial techniques wasn’t enough make me into a good lawyer.
I had to learn how to bear witness to human suffering.
I had to learn to process and sit with the impact of witnessing suffering had on me.
I had to learn how to bear witness to human suffering.
I had to learn to process and sit with the impact of witnessing suffering had on me.
I had to learn how to practice generous listening.
I had to learn to not lose myself in my client’s suffering, yet, not detach from them either.
Giving all the time and space my clients needed to weap, to shout, to rage, to process, to heal.
I had to learn to not lose myself in my client’s suffering, yet, not detach from them either.
Giving all the time and space my clients needed to weap, to shout, to rage, to process, to heal.
Realizing that I can only accompany them partly through the journey towards wholeness.
I wish in law school, I had learned about trauma, and vicarious trauma.
I wish I learned the important of “soft skills,” which I consider critical.
I wish in law school, I had learned about trauma, and vicarious trauma.
I wish I learned the important of “soft skills,” which I consider critical.
Tagging @LadyLawyerDiary
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