Wasting Minds: Do Lawyers Get Worse At Their Jobs As They Age?

Do lawyers get worse at their jobs as they age? There’s not a lot of good data about this in the legal space (the benefits of self-regulation), but we can learn from studies of doctors and cab drivers. In episode 3 of the Lawyer Forward podcast, Mike Whelan explores how creatively solving complex problems increases our cognitive abilities. Mike concludes that lawyers will need to change the way we practice if we want to preserve our minds and deliver for clients.

(In the episode, Mike referenced Malcolm Gladwell’s book that incorporates Anders Ericsson’s work. He said that the book is called Tipping Point. It was actually Outliers. You can find both books here.)

Make sure you take advantage of the show’s Q&A feature. You can ask Mike questions about the latest episode and he’ll answer at the end of the next episode. Just submit your question in the form at the bottom of this post.