Self-Reflection and Professional Identity for Attorneys

Introduction: The Importance of Self-Reflection

People rarely take the time to get to know themselves. If one does not know oneself, one can never really know anyone else. Self-reflection refers to the capacity of an individual to employ introspection and the willingness to investigate their drives, desires, expectations, needs, wants, and competencies — as well as how a person views their own purpose and nature. Self-reflection can be applied to one's professional goals, personal goals, and nearly every situation a person encounters in life.

An attorney who honestly exercises self-reflection is clear about their motives, goals, and how they should handle all aspects of their professional and personal life with respect to these. The self-reflective attorney is completely honest during this introspection. Sometimes this can be uncomfortable, but it is important that one understand oneself thoroughly in order for self-reflection to be effective. The self-reflective attorney understands their background, their values, their role models, and how these affect their own motivation and interaction with others. The self-reflective attorney also understands how others perceive them. By knowing oneself, one is better prepared to take on the challenges that arise in working with others. The ancient Chinese general Sun Tzu said it best: "Know thy self, know thy enemy. A thousand battles, a thousand victories." Knowing oneself allows one to better understand one's strengths and weaknesses, to understand others, and to determine how to be most effective in any given situation.

Developing a Professional Identity

A key concept in self-reflection is fostering the development of a professional identity as well as one's personal identity. A professional identity is essentially the way an attorney views their own role with respect to all of the stakeholders in the legal system. In trying to understand one's professional identity, one would need to ask: who am I, and where do I stand as a member of the legal profession? More broadly, one should ask, "What am I like as a person?" This returns to the issue of self-reflection discussed above.

The next key step in developing a professional identity is determining what one wants to be like in their professional role. The goal here is to use self-reflection and one's professional aspirations to merge one's personal character with one's professional objectives. Extending this notion further, one must then define their role relative to the types of clients they wish to serve and where their expertise can best be applied. Beyond these considerations, there are additional key concepts in the development of a professional identity.

Ethical and Social Values in Professional Identity

The self-reflective attorney must examine their ethical and social values in conjunction with their core sense of professional identity. Does the attorney primarily want to earn a high income? Does the attorney want to be of service to others? These are the questions that self-reflection and the development of a professional identity help to clarify. One must develop an understanding of their professional role and identity as an attorney relative to the courts, judges, opposing counsel, their firm, the legal system, and society as a whole.

The professional identity of an attorney extends far beyond interactions within the legal system or legal framework. One must also develop an understanding of how their role as an attorney is affected by — and affects — their family, friends, and others in their life. When developing a professional identity, the attorney must establish role expectations regarding interactions with all of these parties. This requires considerable introspection and self-reflection, as well as periodic re-evaluation and re-examination of both personal and professional identity.