34 Trial Lawyer • Spring 2022 By Jane Paulson OTLA Guardian Being a trial lawyer can be difficult work for many reasons — a less discussed reason is the emotional toll the practice bears on our lives. In our practice, which is primarily serious personal injury and medical malpractice, we regularly meet people whose lives have been devastated. Death. Severe injuries. Seeing families whose lives have been changed in an instant. While it helps keep life in perspective, it is also heartbreaking. Over and over. One of the hardest cases for me is a medical malpractice case where I represent a client who has a terminal illness and the person is going to die. We usually represent families where the family member has already died or been killed in an accident, so we did not have the honor of meeting the family member. But meeting, getting to know and watching the person decline or die is gut wrenching. We can pretend we have a thick skin. We can pretend it doesn’t affect us. But it seeps in. No matter how thick our perceived skin, it has to seep in. So, what do you do about it? How do you handle it? A 2016 study by the ABA reported 20% of lawyers reported problematic drinking (and that is the number from people who would respond to a survey) — double the rate of other professionals with similar education. One in four lawyers struggles with some level of depression, and one in five demonstrates symptoms of anxiety. Like many families, addiction runs strong in my family. I have always known I needed a healthy outlet to help me avoid getting stuck in an unhealthy one. Luckily for me, I like sports and, generally, have a golden retriever outlook — happy, friendly and like to chase a ball. I ruptured my right Achilles playing in a basketball tournament in 2010. In 2017, I was struggling with my left Achilles and plantar fasciitis. I was put in a cast. When I was out of the cast, a friend invited me to play a game of pickleball. It was fun. Then, during spring break 2018, we went to see my sister in Los Barriles, Mexico. Los Barriles has a 10-court pickleball complex with pickleball everyday (Tres Pelapas https://trespalapasbaja.com/). While our teen son slept, I played pickleball every morning. It was so fun! I was hooked! I was still on a USTA team (United States Tennis Association) and had to finish out my season but have not played tennis since. The court Pickleball is played on a badmintonsized court: 20 ft. x 44 ft. Four pickleball courts can fit on one tennis court. The ball is served (underhand) diagonally (starting with the right-hand servicesquare), and points can only be scored by the side that serves. Players on each side must let the ball bounce once before volleys are allowed, and there is a seven-foot no-volley zone on each side of the net. The server continues to serve, alternating service courts, Jane Paulson Pickleball AND How it helps me in my practice
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