ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that the increasing use of contemplative practices in law schools is significant not just in relation to enhancing resilience and diminishing stress and depression, but in that they also have major benefits in the development of traditional legal roles. It discusses one response in tertiary legal education: the use of contemplative practices in order to help to combat this seeming epidemic. Law schools are beginning to recognize that contemplative practices may be useful in assisting students with their greater levels of anxiety and depression. The chapter explores how contemplative practices might be used to help develop greater resilience to depression and anxiety in law students and lawyers. The ability of contemplative practices to enhance the capacity to articulate personal and professional ethics is a significant reason to use them in legal education specifically because ethical dilemmas are known to frequently be the trigger for people dropping out of law school or the profession.
