Small Law Firms

If I Worked As An Associate Attorney, I Might Want The 'Severance' Procedure

Many lawyers would add years to their lives and have less gray hair if they were unable to remember the matters that caused them stress in the workplace.

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blackboard brainI recently finished the show “Severance” on Apple TV, and the program was absolutely amazing! I can’t remember a more original science fiction show in recent years, and the program tackles work-life balance, which has become more important than ever in the work-from-home environment. Essentially, the show involves workers who undergo the severance procedure, which ensures that their work self does not know anything about that person’s personal life. In addition, once a person leaves their workplace, they do not remember anything about what went on at work. Although the show is somewhat dystopian, it seems as if the severance procedure would be great for many law firms. I was recently speaking with a bunch of lawyers about whether they would sign up for severance if they could, and many believed that, if given the option, they would like to separate work memories from personal ones like on the show.

One huge problem with law firms is that people often need to take work home with them. Partners often want associates to respond to matters at all times of the day or night and when the office is closed. In the vast majority of instances, matters can wait until work time. Law firms are notorious for establishing artificial deadlines, and exigent matters that require immediate attention are rare within the legal profession. Establishing a severance would ensure that bosses could not unduly impede on the personal time of their workers unless there is an “overtime contingency” as fans of the show already know.

Moreover, it is easy for attorneys to take the stress of their jobs home with them. Most people within the legal profession will readily agree that the legal industry is extremely stressful. Not only do lawyers need to deal with office politics and the other stressors that impact all kinds of office workers, but they need to deal with the confrontation that is omnipresent in legal matters. I for one definitely take stress home with me, and stressful times at work can impact my sleep, my exercise routines, and other parts of my personal life.

Folks who undergo the fictional severance procedure would be incapable of taking stress home with them when they leave the office each day. Indeed, those workers would not be able to even remember the matters at work which made them stressed out to begin with. I am willing to bet many lawyers would add years to their lives and have less gray hair if they were unable to remember the matters that caused them stress in the workplace.

One of the reasons why severance is billed as important in the show is because it helps ensure confidentiality of matters worked on at an office. If people could not remember what they did in a workplace, they would be unable to blab about it after they returned home. Although the legal profession has ethical restrictions on what people can say about their work, lawyers talk all the time about their work, sometimes in inappropriate ways. Something akin to the severance procedure would help lawyers keep secrets better which might improve client relations and the sanctity of client confidences.

Of course, there are also plenty of reasons why severance might not be helpful in the legal industry. For one, attorneys often need to have a personal as well as a work relationship with clients. Many people forge deep connections with clients, either because clients are already friends with the attorney or the lawyer’s relative, or because the lawyer and client have worked together for years. It would be impossible for lawyers to have the same amount of connection with clients if they could not discuss work matters with clients in a more casual setting, which happens often in the legal profession.

Moreover, much of a lawyer’s job takes place outside of an office. Lawyers usually need to hit the road in order to attend court hearings, depositions, site inspections, and all manner of proceedings related to the matters upon which they work. In the show, severance was only possible spatially in an office, so the procedure as described in the show would not be practical for many lawyers. Moreover, lawyers rely on prior lived experiences much more than other office workers, including the worker in the show. Lawyers need to have ready recall of prior situations with clients over the years in order to know what to do in any given situation. In the show, people subject to the severance procedure are unable to recall any personal details about themselves, which would prove an impediment in the legal industry.

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All told, many within the legal industry would likely want a technology that can separate their work memories from their personal life in order to promote work-life balance. However, this would probably difficult to implement in practice because lawyers rely on the aggregate of their lived experiences to perform solid work for clients.

Rothman Larger HeadshotJordan Rothman is a partner of The Rothman Law Firm, a full-service New York and New Jersey law firm. He is also the founder of Student Debt Diaries, a website discussing how he paid off his student loans. You can reach Jordan through email at jordan@rothmanlawyer.com.

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