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LAW OFFICE MANAGEMENT You need a break today Taking a vacation might require a lot of preparation, but the mental health break can really refocus your practice and make you a more efficient lawyer. BY KEVIN MARRON W hen Pascale Dai- gneault married her law partner Carl Fleck 20 years ago, the couple left its two-lawyer southwestern Ontario personal injury practice to go off on a honeymoon. It didn't occur to them at the time that this would be their last real holiday for many years. "It can be quite time consuming to look after your practice," says Dai- gneault of Fleck & Daigneault in Point Edward, Ont. She makes it clear that this is something of an understatement by pointing out that you can easily find yourself going into your office six or seven days a week. It was not until five to seven years later — Daigneault doesn't remember exactly when — that they finally decided to go away on a vineyard tour in con- nection with a wine business that she ran as a sideline to her law practice. What they realized when they got back was that taking a break actually helped them run their practice more efficiently. "We found that travelling gives you the impetus to leave with a clear desk," says Daigneault. She came back reinvigorated and found she was procrastinating less and getting eight hours of work done in six, rather than spinning it out over a 10-hour period. Since then the couple began taking regular holidays and can now do so more easily since they have an associate in the firm who can hold the fort while they're away. It's a common theme for lawyers and law firm managers everywhere — the pressures of their work is such that lawyers badly need vacation time to recharge their batteries, but it is extremely hard for many of them to get away from their busy prac- tices — and even harder to relax and for- get about work once they do take a break. It's a significant mental health issue according to Jean Wallace, a sociology professor at the University of Calgary. She co-authored a 2009 study of 887 law firm lawyers in Alberta that looked at the impact of leisure activities on people in highly stressful work settings. The study found that participating in active and social leisure activities or taking a vaca- tion are important in reducing depres- sion. "Organizations that encourage and support their employees taking vaca- tions, participating in social activities, and taking time for leisure may find they have happier employees and a healthier work environment," state Wallace and her colleague Allan Joudrey. It's a common-sense observation that would resonate with almost any lawyer or law firm manager. And, at almost any firm with more than a handful of law- yers, provisions are made for partners and associates alike to take annual vaca- tions. Most managers would encourage them to do so. The question is whether they can really get away from the job and relax with a smartphone constantly buzzing on their belts or in their purses and clients or colleagues expecting almost immediate responses. "Gone are the days when you can go for a one-week vacation and disconnect," says Paul Boni- ferro, a partner and national leader, practices and people, at McCarthy Tétrault LLP. Interrupting his cot- tage vacation for a telephone interview, he noted that so much preparation is required to clear your desk before going away that "it's much easier to stay in touch and work during the vacation." For Toronto criminal lawyer Jacob Jesin, the idea of going away for two weeks without his mobile phone is a complete fantasy. "I have a business to run," he says. "As sole practitioner, I'm doing a lot of things that in a bigger firm I wouldn't have to do. Your mind can be filled with so many other things." That makes vacations even more necessary, he says. Nevertheless, he adds, "I could never envisage myself going to a remote island somewhere and dis- appearing for two weeks. Clients' lives are on the line and that's an added pres- sure. People don't stop getting arrested when you're on vacation and often the phone calls come at three in the mor- ning. It's very challenging in that sense. It never ends." www.CANADIAN Lawyermag.com OCTO BER 2011 21 sArA TysoN