It’s no secret lawyers have a dismal reputation when it comes to trust. Since Gallup began polling on public trust and confidence in professional institutions in 1985,¹ lawyers have never had more than 25% of the public having high or very high levels of trust and confidence in the legal profession, which is “significantly below” ratings for doctors, nurses, judges, and police officers.² When asked in 2023 which categories of the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct should be revised, 65% of attorneys polled noted “maintaining integrity of the profession” as the area most in need of improvement.³ Even lawyer civility has plummeted, as summarized by past State Bar of Michigan President Jennifer Grieco in December 2018.⁴ But behaving ethically is not a challenge unique to lawyers.

A fascinating 2010 Harvard study evaluated the ethics of participant behavior based on the type of sunglasses they thought they were wearing.⁵ Lead researcher Francesca Gino and her team divided participants into two groups and gave each person a pair of $300 designer sunglasses, except those in the second group received their sunglasses in a box marked “fake” or “counterfeit.” The participants then answered a series of questions which paid them a nominal fee based on whether their answers were right or wrong. The results: 70% of participants wearing the “fake” glasses lied to inflate their scores for more money while 26% of wearing the “authentic” glasses inflated their scores. Different variations produced similar results.

The researchers didn’t tell the participants they were all wearing the same brand of sunglasses and only the labels on the boxes were different. The team’s conclusion: it wasn’t the fake sunglasses that drove the unethical behavior; it was the feeling of inauthenticity that came from wearing something fake. In layperson’s terms, “feeling like a fraud makes people more likely to commit fraud.”⁶ Striving to live authentically — or practice law authentically, for our sake — might be a remedy to help change the public perception of our profession.

Being authentic is generally perceived as operating in concert with one’s values regardless of the circumstances. Think genuine, bona fide, the real McCoy, or, in modern parlance, “being real.” But this is a column about wellness, not ethics, so why or how does authenticity impact a lawyer’s well-being? Two words: cognitive dissonance.

Cognitive dissonance, a term coined by social psychologist Leon Festinger in the mid-1950s, is the perception of contradictory information and the mental and/or physical toll that results from it.⁷ When two actions or ideas are not psychologically consistent with each other, a person will do everything in their power to restore balance.⁸ Often, achieving that internal balance may employ the not-so-ethical (or effective) mental devices of justification, rationalization, and avoidance.⁹

In the Harvard example above, one’s internal dialogue might run something like this: “No one will know I’m fudging my answers because they already think I’m wearing designer sunglasses except they’re really just knockoffs, and besides it’s only a few dollars that I’m making by lying so what’s the big deal?”

As lawyers, we experience cognitive dissonance all the time — and not always because our clients ask us to engage in bad behavior or we see an opportunity to do so as advantageous to our or our clients’ interests. It’s often innately part of being a lawyer; the very nature of our work as lawyers exposes us to both more opportunities for cognitive dissonance and a lesser degree of trust and confidence in our profession from the public. Could there be any more perfect storm for the erosion of lawyer well-being? Added to the effect of being a lawyer is the legal training we acquired to become lawyers. As legal expert Lawrence S. Krieger noted:

Traditional teaching methods [in law schools] and beliefs that underlie them undermine “the sense of self-worth, security, authenticity, and competence among students. Law students get the message, early and often, that what they believe, or believed, at their core, is unimportant — in fact ‘irrelevant’ and inappropriate in the context of legal discourse — and their traditional ways of thinking and feeling are wholly unequal to the task before them.”¹⁰

Whether or not we knew it, the schools we paid so handsomely for our degree and training to do what we do unintentionally robbed us of the essential qualities we need to live a balanced and fruitful life. It’s no wonder that nearly 30% of American lawyers report experiencing depression, anxiety, and/or stress and more than 20% report having problems with alcohol use, a rate that has increased by more than 50% since the mid-2000s.¹¹

Can practicing law authentically be an antidote to our wellness demise? Perhaps. One study in the Journal of Counseling Psychology found that “authenticity was correlated with higher self-esteem, psychological well-being, and happiness.”¹²

So how do we get back on the beam of living authentically and push back against the cognitive dissonance we must endure as legal practitioners? You’ve probably heard of social scientist Brené Brown, whose name has become synonymous with vulnerability, shame, and authenticity.¹³ In her book, The Gifts of Imperfection, she offered a definition and summary of authenticity:

Authenticity is the daily practice of letting go of who we think we’re supposed to be and embracing who we are. Choosing authenticity means cultivating the courage to be imperfect, to set boundaries, and to allow ourselves to be vulnerable; exercising the compassion that comes from knowing that we are all made of strength and struggle; and nurturing the connection and sense of belonging that can only happen when we believe that we are enough.¹⁴

Applying the insights of Brown (and others^15,16,17) to the practice of law, you might consider the following (note that I wouldn’t offer these tips had I not applied them myself … this is authenticity exemplified!):

• Let go of who you think you’re supposed to be: We’re not superheroes, we are humans. Though we work in a meaningful profession trying to deliver the best possible solution for clients who need our help, we are still just humans. We can’t read minds. We can’t stop time to catch up on our work. We rarely, if ever, have all the facts. And we are called upon to handle legal problems, though rarely, if ever, do clients bring us singularly legal problems.

• Embrace who you are: Know your strengths and weaknesses. If you are fastidious in your study of the law, promote that in your dealings with clients and courts. If your soft skills are on fire, encourage those conversations with clients and colleagues to build rapport. If you’ve had a rough week (or month or year), own that reality and accept that tough conditions will likely impair your ability to deliver your best. Again, human, not superhuman.

• Cultivate the courage to be imperfect: Allow yourself to make mistakes. This is not a license to be reckless, but if you’re reading this article, you’ve surmounted some impressive obstacles to earn your subscription to this magazine and you made some mistakes along the way.

• Set boundaries: Boundaries support authenticity. Regardless of the size of your caseload, we all need boundaries to protect our ability to serve our clients competently, zealously, and dutifully while preserving the need to have a life outside of work. In the five-plus years since I’ve implemented this principle, I’ve yet to have a client take offense when I’ve clearly communicated a boundary and stuck to it. The cost of not setting boundaries always leads to more stress and a roomful of resentments you can’t have living rent-free in your head.

• Let yourself be vulnerable: Sharing our human side with clients can relieve the stress we may feel to be perfect while affording clients the opportunity to show us grace in our efforts to deliver the best product we can offer. Note that authenticity does not mean baring all. Rather, acknowledging to our clients that our plates are full or that we need some time to recenter can build confidence and trust. Authenticity enables our ability to connect with others.

• Practice mindfulness: The messages our bodies and brains are trying to send us about how we are doing or feeling in a given moment is the best authenticity barometer. Mindfulness allows us to honor and tend to the parts of ourselves that care nothing about deadlines or client demands. It allows us to hear whether what we are doing or about to do resonates with the core beliefs that guide our thoughts, words, and actions and gives us the chance to avoid a path that may erode our self-esteem, sense of worthiness, and security.

We may have a long way to go to change the public perception of our profession, but we can change how we relate to ourselves, our clients, and our peers by striving to live authentically in our practice and at home. And maybe if we ditch the designer sunglasses (or the knockoffs) and let people see us for who we really are, we can experience less stress, less fear, and greater self-esteem. If you’re feeling overwhelmed and could use help finding balance in your life, contact the Lawyers and Judges Assistance Program.