EMILY HORNSBY: CHAIR, CHAPTERS’ DIVISION AND CO-CHAIR, ALABAMA CHAPTER
MINDFUL LEADERS IN THE LAW:
An Interview with Emily Hornsby
Welcome to the April 2022 edition of the Mindful Leaders in the Law interview series. This month I had the opportunity to interview MILS Managing Board Member, Chair of the Chapters’ Division and Co-Chair of the Alabama Chapter, Emily Hornsby. In it, Emily talks candidly about the difficult family circumstances that led her into a journey of self-exploration and discovery – one that she is still on today. Among other things, she also talks about the exciting expansion taking place with MILS and gives her take on why she believes MILS will continue to grow by leaps and bounds. Thanks to Emily for sharing her open and thoughtful responses with the MILS community.
Q: How did you begin practicing meditation and mindfulness?
A: In 2012, my husband at the time was out of state for four months in an inpatient alcohol rehabilitation facility. My family had been experiencing the stress, fear and destruction from the disease of alcoholism for quite some time. I was working full time at Morris Haynes law firm handling cases where individuals had been catastrophically injured or killed as a result of the negligence of another. I was the sole bread winner during that time and I had an 11 year old daughter and 13 year old son that I was single parenting. I was trying to juggle my responsibilities as a trial lawyer with my responsibilities as a parent all the while being inundated with fear and uncertainty about my marriage and whether my husband would get the help that he needed. I remember going to the alcohol treatment facility in Minnesota for family weekend where they had counseling sessions for me, the spouse of the alcoholic, and I remember realizing for the first time the importance of taking care of myself. As anyone knows who has been affected by the disease of alcoholism much of the care, attention and focus is on the alcoholic. So this was a new concept for me – the importance of self-care and that experience catapulted me into a journey of self-exploration and discovery that I am still on today. Throughout my life I have always been active and exercised whether it be tennis, walking or taking an aerobics class – but yoga and meditation provided me with something that I had not experienced before – the mind body connection, a feeling of coming home to myself that provided me much needed peace, tranquility and equanimity in the midst of the chaos around me at the time. I have continued to practice meditation and yoga regularly and I can truly say both helped me more than anything else to move through the challenging times in my life including my divorce in 2018 after 23 years of marriage. I recently completed a two-year mindfulness meditation course taught by Jack Kornfield and Tara Brach and am proud to say I am a certified mindfulness meditation teacher. Today, self-care is a priority and I am intentional about it. It is not an afterthought or something that I do if I have enough time. Sometimes it takes a traumatic event or a big life change to wake you up so you will focus on your own wellness. I believe in order to have a joyful healthy existence and a fulfilling and rewarding law practice we have to prioritize wellness and self-care. Meditation and yoga are medicine to me – medicine for the spirit, as well as medicine for my physical body. They allow me to clear my mind and make space to be more creative, intuitive and focused.
Q: Your law practice involves working with individuals who have been injured, wronged or killed in personal injury, product defects, wrongful death and similar legal actions. Has your mindfulness practice helped with what no doubt can be a particularly stressful area of the law?
A: Being a partner in a personal injury law firm can be stressful. We work on a contingency fee basis and do not get paid unless we recover. Oftentimes we are counselors to our clients who have either lost a loved one or have been seriously injured themselves due the negligence of another. It’s a lot of responsibility and can get very serious very quickly. My meditation practice has given me the tool to pause in the midst of external stimuli and develop a wise response to it instead of reacting to it. It has also taught me to really feel and experience the small victories along the journey of this thing we call the practice of law, instead of only focusing on the negative. It has taught me gratitude. As a result of paying regular visits to myself through meditation, I know myself better and therefore I have a broader perspective of my work and it doesn’t define me as a person. I am a better lawyer because of my meditation practice. I have more clarity and focus, empathy, resilience and compassion.
Q: Can you talk briefly about the work you’ve done as a co-chair of the Alabama State Bar Quality of Life, Health and Wellness Task Force?
A: I was asked to be a member of The Quality of Life, Health and Wellness Task Force when it was in its infancy, and I have subsequently co-chaired the task force for two years. I am proud to say that in 2021 the Alabama State Bar made the task force a permanent committee making lawyer well-being a permanent focus of the State Bar. The committee has provided numerous CLE’s on attorney well-being, yoga and meditation, as well as developed a page on the Alabama State Bar website devoted to attorney well-being. Being on the Quality of Life, Health and Wellness Committee resulted in my appointment as the State of Alabama’s Task Force Leader for the Institute for Well-Being in Law (IWIL), a 501(c)(3), which is the successor to the National Task Force on Lawyer Well-Being, whose focus is the betterment of the legal profession through a holistic approach to well-being.
Q: As the Chair of MILS Chapters Division, you’ve been integral to the significant increase in new MILS chapters over the past 18 months, in the United States and internationally. Do you think that the growth is a sign that more legal professionals around the world are valuing their well-being, or is the growth due to MILS becoming more well known? In either case I suppose it is a positive.
A: It definitely is a positive! I am so excited about the future of MILS. I have a wonderful group of chapter heads that I meet with each month via zoom. They are an impassioned, dedicated group devoted to the MILS and its purpose from Maryland, Washington D.C., New England, Pennsylvania, Canada, New Zealand, Chile, Poland, Virginia, North Carolina, Indiana, Alabama and Illinois. We have individuals interested in forming a MILS chapter in Saudi Arabia, Michigan, Georgia, New York, California, Miami, and Ohio. We know from the report of The National Task Force on Lawyer Well-Being that published “The Path To Lawyer Well-Being” in 2017 that the legal profession is suffering from high rates of depression, suicide, and substance abuse. One of the recommendations of the National Task Force is to provide high-quality educational programs about lawyer distress and well-being through mindfulness meditation. The MILS fulfills that requirement and so much more. I think there is a hunger in the legal profession for mindfulness meditation at this time in history that has been exacerbated by the pandemic and I believe MILS will continue to grow by leaps and bounds!
Q: You’re also a co-chair of the Alabama chapter of MILS. Is there anything interesting or exciting that’s coming up for MILS Alabama?
A: I was introduced to the MILS in 2018 by then President Richard Reuben and Secretary Julie Sandine. They both were incredibly kind to me and encouraged me to start an Alabama Chapter which I did along with Birmingham attorney Susan Han. The Alabama Chapter meets once a month. We had been meeting via zoom the last couple of years, but have just started back meeting in person which we are grateful to be able to do. Our local chapter has provided several yoga classes and crystal bowl meditation sessions for its members, as well as 30 minute guided mediations. We have also enjoyed being together in a relaxed setting at a local restaurant in downtown Birmingham. One of the great benefits of local chapters is to be able to get together with other like-minded individuals and be in community with one another and support one another. The Alabama MILS Chapter is always looking for ways to spread the word about mediation and other contemplative practices to those in the legal profession in Alabama to reduce suffering.
Q: Do you have a “go to” mindfulness practice for those days when you do not have time to do a formal sitting?
A: To me, Yoga is a moving meditation. I try to do yoga every morning regardless of whether I can do a formal sit. I also get in nature and walk and focus on birds that come into my view along with the sound of the birds, and I focus on the sound of the wind rustling through the leaves on the trees and I am intentional about looking up at the sky.
Q: Do you have a favorite quote or expression that reminds you of why mindfulness, yoga and well-being are priorities in your life?
A: Spring Washam said “When one thought ends, right before the next thought begins, there is a tiny gap called “now.” Over time we learn to expand that gap.” This is what mindfulness meditation gives you – the ability to be in the present moment – which is the ultimate gift.