Our Interview With Stephanie Lewis, Founder of LiveWellFlow, LLC

August 1, 2025

Our Interview With Stephanie Lewis, Founder of LiveWellFlow, LLC

By the Juris Education Interview Team

Stephanie Lewis is the Founder of LiveWellFlow, LLC. She is a certified mindfulness meditation and qigong instructor, a national board-certified health and wellness coach, and a recently retired managing attorney. 

1. Why do you believe mental health support is especially important in the legal profession? 

Mental health support is critical in the legal profession because lawyers operate in high-stakes, high-conflict, competitive environments. Chronic stress is normal but there is little training in how to manage that stress. Studies have indicated that mental health declines after entering law school. The pressure to suppress emotion, prioritize productivity, and define worth through external achievement all contribute to that. During my recent presentation at the 2025 Mindfulness in Law Society Conference & Retreat, I also spoke about the cognitive dissonance that arises when lawyers feel internal conflict between their personal values and the demands of the system they work within. This dissonance is inherent in the practice of law. It is part of an attorney’s job. But it can lead to disengagement, burnout, or worse if not acknowledged and internally managed. Supporting mental health helps preserve lawyers’ capacity for ethical decision-making, empathy, and sustainable professional growth.

2. What are the most common mental health challenges you see among law students and early-career lawyers?

Studies have shown that law students typically enter school with relatively normal levels of well-being, motivation, and mental health. However, these signs of well-being begin to decline as early as the first year. Anxiety, distress, and substance use increase, often significantly. Acclimating to a highly competitive environment, fearing failure, and operating in a culture that rewards perfectionism and overwork can diminish the intrinsic motivation of students and early-career attorneys and create conditions that make it difficult for them to care for their mental and emotional well-being.

3. What services or resources does your program provide that might benefit aspiring or current law students?

Practices like mindfulness meditation, breathwork, and qigong can offer law students and early-career attorneys simple, grounding ways to manage stress, reconnect with themselves, and build greater self-awareness. Coaching can also provide space to reflect, process challenges, and regain a sense of agency in a system that can often feel overwhelming or rigid. These are practices and programs that I offer through LiveWellFlow.

The American Bar Association, state bar lawyer assistance programs, the Mindfulness in Law Society, and the Institute for Well-Being in Law are also committed to improving the well-being of legal professionals.

4. How can law schools better support students’ mental health, and what role should institutions play in creating healthier environments?

Law schools can do many things to support student mental health. They can integrate wellness programming into orientation and curriculum and foster cultures of belonging, especially for underrepresented students. They can also train faculty and administrators to recognize signs of distress and normalize help-seeking behavior.

Institutions play a pivotal role in modeling what it means to prioritize human well-being—and in making it safe for students to do the same.

5. Are there any misconceptions about mental health in the legal community that you believe need to be addressed?

Yes. Attorneys are highly competent individuals. Generally, they are the ones others come to for help. They may not be accustomed to seeking help for themselves and may see it as a sign of weakness. They may also accept that stress is the cost of success without questioning alternatives to a path that leads to burnout. It takes both courage and leadership for law students and attorneys to give themselves permission to take steps that will better their own well-being.

6. How can law students and future lawyers build sustainable practices to manage stress, burnout, and work-life balance long-term?

First, when law students and attorneys build new practices to help them increase their awareness, calm their nervous system, and increase their awareness, it's important that they take baby steps. So often I see clients try to take on too much change too fast. That is a recipe for ineffectiveness. 

Second, select practices and new habits that are important to you and not what others think you should do. That is the only way a new practice will be successful.

Third, learn to set boundaries early so that they build time  into their life for practices, activities, and people that nourish and support them and their well-being.

Juris Education is proud to feature insights from leaders like Stephanie Lewis, to help pre-law students better understand how to care for their mental health throughout the demanding journey to law school.