It has been one week post-the Legal Marketing Association (LMA) Annual Conference, and the Hellerman team is still processing all of the information presented at the jam-packed sessions.

The conference started on the most positive note, with a keynote from Catherine A. Sanderson, Amherst College’s Manwell Family Professor of Life Sciences, on the science of happiness. Sanderson explained how people who are happy are fundamentally different in the sense that they are generally more helpful, productive and experience better health. So before providing a quick cheat sheet on how to become happy, consider how to achieve happiness (in this way) in the flat-rate growth (“sad”) market that is the legal industry?

Let’s ask them if they’re happy?

Though some may be pre-dispositioned to happiness (50% is attributed to genetics, and people who are extraverted, optimistic and have high self-esteem are generally happier), 50% of what makes people happy is up to us (the individual). That 50%, that we have control of, can be put towards the three basic components of happiness: 1) pleasure, of least importance because it is fleeting; 2) engagement and the anticipation of it; and 3) doing things you find meaningful. Bearing these three items in mind, happiness has been found to wane and ween across a lifespan – with the most happy being in times of youth and old age when you have quality relationships (over sheer quantity).

Before returning to the question originally posed, let’s consider what a flat-rate growth market means. After finding some stability following the recession, #LMA18 presenters Brent Turner of Thomson Reuters’ Peer Monitor and Janet Bennett of the company’s Monitor Suite explain how the legal industry began experiencing flat growth or consistent revenue per lawyer over time. What’s more, they also pointed to alarming trends in 2016 and 2017 – a decrease in demand and productivity with increases in work rates, hours billed, and lawyer development.

So in a seemingly flat industry, how do we apply Sanderson’s happiness solutions?

To be considerably happy in the legal space, we must first and foremost work towards quality relationships on behalf of the firm, partners, marketing and sales teams and personal professional development. Then, use those relationships to engage and find opportunities to connect.

If you haven’t heard of the one simple way to do this, check out our after-placement plans (or APPs). John Hellerman was recently able to engage and reconnect with client Mary Margaret, of Jones Walker LLP, to develop a piece of content for Marketing the Law Firm’s April issue. Let’s ask them if they’re happy?