First Meeting of the UK Chapter on Therapeutic Jurisprudence
On the 6th June 2019, Holistic Lawyer and Interpersonal Mediator Amber Turner, founder of Amber Law (est 2013) attended the UK’s first ever meeting on Therapeutic Jurisprudence (known as TJ for short). The event was created and hosted by Senior Law Lecturer and former Solicitor Dr Emma Jones of the Milton Keynes Open University and Senior Law Lecturer Dr Anna Kawalak of Leeds Beckett University. Amber, as Gibraltar’s First Holistic Lawyer, has now been asked to be a Guest Speaker at the TJ UK Chapter’s first UK Conference in 2020.
“I was both delighted and honoured to be attending my first meeting in a room full of like-minded lawyers, academics and other key legal players from different jurisdictions, all whose mission it is to leave a legacy of ‘opportunity for healing’ though the practice of law and through legal/ court systems”, Amber said: “TJ started in the USA around 1986 and is also being practiced in Canada and Australia. Although it is not as developed in the UK to date, the founding of the TJ UK Chapter by Emma and Anna promises an increase in awareness and impact moving forward”.
What is TJ then?
TJ was created by Bruce Winick (now sadly deceased) who, as a young lawyer age only 28, shut down the electric chair as an option for punishment in New York State, sued the Selective Service System and, ‘changed that law’. His message to lawyers was, “…yes, you need to participate in your community, you need to take up good causes. Money isn’t everything. It’s about doing good works, it’s about serving your client…”. He called it, ‘lawyering in the public interest’, that is, being a lawyer in the interest of social change for the better.
David Wexler partnered with Bruce Winick and they grew the movement in the mid-1980s. Today: Holistic Law, Restorative Justice, Collaborative Lawyers, Problem Solving Court Rooms, Preventive Law, Integrative Law, the Coach Approach to the practice of Law and so on, can be said to be examples of practising law therapeutically, as a healing profession, rather than anti-therapeutically. The aim being to provide an opportunity for personal transformation and growth for all participating in the legal system including for example; clients, lawyers and Judges.
TJ humanises legal systems and treats all involved, defendants and complainants alike, with integrity and dignity. TJ gives defendants the opportunity to mentally and emotionally connect with the consequences of their actions, so they can fully understand the mental, emotional, physical and also the practical harm, they have caused to another human being. TJ also offers the opportunity for structured support in behavioural change which increases reintegration and decreases the likelihood of reoffending. Many say this creates an opportunity for healing and growth, which can only be positive for the whole community.
Lawyer J. Kim Wright is a published author of the American Bar Association: her first book, ‘Lawyers As Peacemakers Practising Holistic, Problem-Solving Law,’ I was very happy to come across in January 2018 and ‘Lawyers as Changemakers’ in 2019. In her first book, Kim writes about TJ as a Healing Profession saying, “TJ also considers the court system and how it affects society from either a therapeutic or non-therapeutic perspective. Often referred to as practising law as a healing profession… TJ focuses on the law’s impact on the emotional and psychological health for the participants, clients, lawyers and judges. It is a context for the legal system that can be applied to almost any practice… the goal is to bring sensitivity into law practice. It focuses on listening to participants with an awareness of the psychological and emotional issues surrounding a legal issue, including stress, confidence and trust”.
Further examples of TJ given are: family lawyers working with their clients collaboratively, away from the court room; employment lawyers working with employers in relation to employee wellbeing; estate planning lawyers who can support clients dealing with the emotional issues of growing old, disability and death; all barristers/ litigators who can consider the emotional impact on their clients of having to attend court; and personal injury lawyers being more sensitive and aware of the impact on clients who have suffered loss of health, employment, family, etc through accident, injury, or clinical/ medical negligence/ malpractice.
1st TJ UK Chapter Meeting
At the meeting, Australian Guest Speaker, Carly Wheelan, currently at the University of Cambridge, spoke about her experience of working with Australian Judges in TJ, in mainstream criminal courts.
Amongst the TJ UK Guest Speakers were founders of the TJ UK Chapter, Dr Emma Jones who spoke about her work in, ‘Humanizing Legal Education’ and Dr Anna Kawalak who spoke about, ‘Problem Solving Courts’. There were Law Students, Law Lecturers and Guest Speakers from Cambridge University, the University of Essex, Middlesex University, Warwick University, Bath Spa, Leeds Beckett and Milton Keynes Open University, to name a few. Key players such as Paul Gavin who has advised Ireland’s Government and Police about the introduction of Problem Solving and Community Courts, and Restorative Justice programs such as Family Group Conferencing- was also present.
Amber reconnected with Elaine Quinn, founder of online, ‘The Conscious Lawyer Magazine’ and met South African Lawyer Rhiannon Thomas of Serpentine Solutions, who attended with her co-founder, Stijn Damminga, from Amsterdam. At the event, Rhiannon offered to introduce Amber to J Kim Wright, describing Amber as, “one of us”.
Amber says, “I work in alignment with my purpose, vision and mission. I am confident in following my intuition, emotional intelligence and my legal experience (rational), which leads me to a privileged position of fully understanding my clients and their legal issues at all levels. I have an absolute certainty that a Holistic problem-solving approach couched in therapeutic outcomes as it is, is the way of the present and the future for all lawyers, Judges, clients and their respective families.
Meanwhile, those of my clients who have been open to the Holistic approach, give me very positive feedback and describe their experience as ‘transformational’. This is where my mission statement, ‘Positively Transforming Family Life’, was born. Some of my clients tell me they adopt the Holistic approach learned in their legal process/ dispute resolution, to other areas of their lives, such as when they find themselves in conflict with challenging teenagers or in dispute with a work colleague. The positive, therapeutic, ripple effect is far reaching. It has been a significant life change and blessing for me to now be connected to so many Legal Changemakers who like me, ‘eat, drink and sleep’ TJ practices!”
For further information, please contact: amber@amberlaw.com