Terri Krivosha of Maslon Edelman Borman & Brand, LLP is a desk jockey. She work-walks 3 miles a day at her WalkStation in their Minneapolis law firm.
Krivosha claims she installed the treadmill because,
A. It keeps her energized and fit as she works;
B. Having completed a four-year run as chair of the firm’s Governance Committee, she thought it would be a good idea to get back on the partnership track;
C. These days an attorney must be really fleet of foot to stay ahead of the competition.
These treadmills at work have been endorsed by the Mayo Clinic, who are conducting several studies into their effects.
The WalkStations go for about US$4,000 and are available in Canada.
But the investment might be worth it for law firms, providing an incentive to lawyers to spend less time at the gym and more time in the office. Many firms already provide free gym memberships, a cost that could be passed on to office infrastructure instead.
The added health benefits means that lawyers would have more energy during the day, and theoretically live longer, resulting in longer dividends for firms that have heavily invested in senior partners.
But be careful – you might have to wipe off the treadmill and your factum before turning it in to the court.
Great news! This, combined with the coming hypersleep chambers, will mean that associates will no longer need to leave the building at all! Productivity will double, and associate time-to-burnout could possibly be extended a full two years! It’s a win-win for partners AND …well, partners!
Seriously, folks: I suspect that, even if the firm will pay for it, employee buy-in will not be great. People like going to the gym. For some junior associates it might be the only non-office socialization they get. I can see that in some practice configurations it might work, but in others (that involve lots of meetings or client contact) it might not.