On June 6, 2025, the 14th session of “Criminal Case Thinking and Debating” of the Criminal Department of Beijing King&Capital Law Firm was held in Beijing, with the theme of the session being “How to maintain a sunny mindset of lawyers: Cultivating professional vitality amidst the thorns”. The event invited Mr. Peng Jiyue, Senior Partner and Head of Criminal III Department of King&Capital Law Firm, and Dr. Guo Zhihua, Director of Clinical Psychology Department of Beijing Bo'ai Hospital of China Rehabilitation Research Center, to provide systematic solutions for lawyers' group to crack the professional psychological dilemma in the high-pressure environment from the dimensions of both legal practice and clinical psychology.
Activity Scene
I. Professional Dilemma:
When the “Lamplighter” Encountered Occupational Psychological Crisis
At the beginning of the event, Zhang Pengpeng, the director of business management department of King&Capital, acted as the host of the event and shared his own experience of handling cases, “The result of a case handled last year was unsatisfactory, and I fell into self-doubt for several months.” He started with his own experience to unveil the psychological dilemma faced by lawyers in general. Citing data, he pointed out that the current conviction rate of criminal cases is as high as 99.7%, and the acceptance rate of plea bargaining and sentencing recommendations exceeds 95%, “Under such a judicial status quo, lawyers are prone to ‘acquired helplessness’ -- like the puppy that was electrocuted in the experiment, and ultimately gave up resistance. ”
Zhang Pengpeng
Second, Lawyer Peng Jiyue:
Exploration and Practice of Lawyer's Mindset Construction
Mr. Peng Jiyue used the “Lamplighter Theory” to break the topic: “Lawyer is a profession that guides the light for others, but if one's own mentality is bleak, how can one talk about illuminating others?” He showed the industry data is worrying: China's 300 million adults have sleep disorders, lawyers career anxiety ranked among the top three in society, 2025 the first three months of the industry publicly disclosed death cases have reached 22 people. “When clients buy 'winning' as a commodity and we can only provide risk management services, the expectation gap becomes an emotional bomb. ”
Mr. Peng Jiyue elaborated on the necessity of building a lawyer's mindset. He pointed out that the lawyer profession shoulders the important mission of guiding others, their own mentality must be positive and sunny. “Our lawyer profession is very special, to give others guidance, their own must have light.” The environment in which lawyers practice is full of challenges, such as high conviction rates and limited space for court debates under the influence of the plea bargaining system, which cause lawyers to fall into anxiety and helplessness very easily, which in turn affects their work effectiveness and quality of life.
Peng Jiyue
He further analyzed the many variables affecting lawyers' mindset, including the uncertainty of cases, the difficulty of managing clients' expectations, lawyers' own dependence on winning cases, high-intensity work pressure, the dilemma of playing the game of ethical interests, and professional risks. Mr. Peng emphasized that changing the cognition is the key path to decode the mindset predicament, and the need to adjust the cognitive approach to the outcome of the case, the client's requirements, and the work pressure, “the value of the lawyer's scale is never based on the rate of winning the case as a ruler, and not based on the entrusted remuneration as a scale, but the client's years later, ‘Thank you for not giving up’ for the monument - this is what makes the lawyer a good person, and the lawyer is the best person. for the monument - this is the honor engraved in the professional life.”
“Action is the antidote to anxiety.” Peng Jiyue put forward the lawyer group to deal with anxiety specific practice program: the case is lost within 48 hours to complete the review, analyze the “controllable variables” and “uncontrollable variables”; the establishment of “emotional tree hole We also set up a mechanism of “Emotional Hole” to provide regular psychological support to senior lawyers, and set up “No Case Day” to rebuild the rhythm of life through hiking, reading, and other means. “True professionalism is knowing that there is no sure win in the law, but still willing to do our best for every bit of fairness.” This quote from Mr. Peng Jiyue profoundly explains the value and mission of the lawyer's profession.
Second, Dr. Guo Zhihua:
Coping and resolving anxiety
Dr. Guo Zhihua made an in-depth analysis of the response to anxiety in the lawyer community from a professional psychological perspective.
Dr. Guo Zhihua
First, Dr. Guo explained the mechanism and existential significance of anxiety. “The accelerated heartbeat of lawyers before a trial is essentially the same as the physiological reaction of primitive man when facing a fierce animal. Anxiety is essentially an adaptive problem that comes from our fight-flight response.” Guo Zhihua interpreted the anxiety mechanism from an evolutionary perspective, pointing out that moderate anxiety (such as pre-trial tension) activates the prefrontal lobes of the brain and enhances decision-making efficiency. However, the “secondary anxiety” in modern society - anxiety about anxiety itself - is like a donkey tied to a stump trying to break free from the rope but strangling itself instead, and has become the root cause of psychological problems. He demonstrated “anxiety self-test”: three consecutive days of less than 5 hours of sleep, inexplicable panic palpitations, hand tremors, that is, the body sounded the alarm.
In terms of anxiety relief strategies for lawyers, Dr. Guo Zhihua pointed out that lawyers need to be aware of their own anxiety state and determine whether it is normal or not. Normal anxiety can be relieved automatically after the event, while pathological anxiety lasts for a long time and the intensity of reaction does not match the severity of the event. Lawyers can alleviate anxiety by changing their cognition and adjusting their way of thinking, such as when the outcome of a case is unsatisfactory, recognizing that the legal outcome is affected by multiple factors and that their own professional work is still valuable. Also, use metacognitive methods to distance yourself from your own thoughts and avoid being overly influenced by your emotions. “When we can go about changing our thoughts, we change them; when we can't change them in the moment, we observe them and distance ourselves from them.” In addition, focusing on physical health, such as getting enough sleep, eating right and exercising in moderation, is also an important foundation for relieving anxiety.
In terms of easing client anxiety, lawyers can provide sufficient information to their clients, such as by building a group to keep them informed of the progress of the case and reduce their fear arising from the unknown. Using a structured process, providing comparative analysis of similar cases, giving the client a certain degree of initiative and enhancing his sense of control. Listen to the client's demands, distinguish between factual and emotional anxiety, and take appropriate measures for different situations, such as providing legal solutions for factual anxiety and emotional empathy for emotional anxiety. When the client is agitated, use external and internal descriptive techniques to guide him or her to stabilize his or her emotions. “All the work we do is not to eliminate anxiety completely, but to make sure that we and our clients do not break down emotionally.” Dr. Guo Zhihua emphasized.
Third, interactive Q&A:
Thinking Collision, Sharing Wisdom
During the interactive Q&A session, the lawyers on the spot actively asked questions, such as seeking ways to quickly alleviate anxiety, exploring the rationality of Lu Xun's “Ah Q's Mental Victory”, etc. Dr. Guo Zhihua suggested that in the case of anxiety, the lawyers should not be afraid to ask questions, but rather to ask questions. Dr. Guo Zhihua suggested intervening when anxiety is high, such as performing simple tasks to distract attention and reduce self-blame. Regarding “Q's method of mental triumph”, he believed that rationalized thinking could be used to reduce self-blame and guilt, and to avoid over-exertion of emotions, but over-reliance should be avoided.
(A) Director Zhu Yonghui's “Three No's Philosophy”
Zhu Yonghui
Director Zhu Yonghui combined his years of practice experience to emphasize the importance of mindset adjustment. He believes that the lawyer's work itself is accompanied by great difficulties, and since he has chosen this profession, he should face the pressure and accept the challenge, and cannot fantasize that he can finish the lawyer's work with ease. “Anxiety is the standard of a good lawyer, a lawyer who is not anxious for his client is not a good lawyer, and he can't be a good lawyer without being anxious for his client.” ZhuYongHui director to his own experience when he first entered the industry as an example, in the case of many problems and pressure, “the case file details gnawed through to be fully prepared, with the bottom line is no longer anxious. People's greatest fear comes from the unknown, down-to-earth and fully prepared is the best vaccine for anxiety.” He said, he is in the process of solving problems again and again to accumulate experience, harvest the joy of growth.
He suggested that young lawyers should not be afraid when facing the pressure of cases, and treat every case as an opportunity to improve their ability. In the face of the lawyer's anxiety, he put forward the “three no” principle: the first “do not pretend”, in the continuous enhancement of their own level at the same time soberly aware of their current ability to face the outside world with the real level of openness, do not pretend to be a high level, do not play, “pretend” will only lead to the development of the lawyer's ability, not to pretend to be a high level, not to play, “pretend”. “Pretend” will only bring additional pressure on themselves; Second, ‘do not cheat’, to be honest with customers, can not fool the client. Do not lie to clients is the most basic professional ethics of lawyers. Can't just say good aspects, often you put the difficulties and risks clearly tell the customer but will win the trust; Third, “don't hide”, in the face of the case pressure, every day sad face can't solve the problem, the only way is to go to “do”, take out the practical action to complete the work, day by day, gradually, and gradually, the work will bring additional pressure; Second, “don't lie”, be honest to the customer, can't fool the client. The only way to solve the problem is to “do”, take practical actions to complete the work, and gradually eliminate the pressure.
He especially emphasized: “to realize that the lawyer profession itself is an ‘unhappy’ work, accept this premise, in order to find happiness in the unhappy.”
(II) Secretary Xiao Shuwei's Compliance Protection System
Xiao Shuwei
Secretary Xiao Shuwei pointed out that clients' dissatisfaction with lawyers is an important source of lawyers' anxiety, and that some of this dissatisfaction is due to objective problems, while some is due to unnecessary complaints. In this regard, he proposed three major ways to reduce anxiety: first, do not make false promises, to avoid excessive expectations of the client, the case results in contrast to the complaint; second, do a good job of risk notification in advance, such as the doctor informed of the risk of surgery, so that the client has a psychological expectation of the possible risks of the case, the risk of the agency contract to inform the provisions of the lawyers is an important asset to protect the lawyers; third is to strengthen the firm's compliance with the construction of the law firm according to the rules, even if the client complains, it will be able to Doing things, even if the customer complaints can be effectively responded to. These three points can make lawyers avoid unnecessary irrational anxiety and work easily.
(iii) The reality of young lawyers' confusion
Cai Kangmiao
“How to enjoy the pleasure of handling cases without falling into anxiety?” Lawyer Cai Kangmiao's question triggered a heated debate. Mr. Peng Jiyue said that the essence of the lawyer's work is to help others, and this kernel of the profession determines that we can harvest deep-seated happiness in the process of performing our duties. Although the uncertainty of the direction of the case will inevitably cause anxiety, but as a legal worker, not only to do a good job of their own emotional management, but also need to guide the parties and their families to face the litigation process in a rational attitude - after all, anxiety can not promote the progress of the case, the only focus on professional action, in order to help others in the process of realizing the value of the profession and spiritual satisfaction! The only way to help others in the process of professional value and spiritual fulfillment.
Peng Jiyue lawyer said in the conclusion: “sunshine mentality is not the absence of shadows, but know that the shadows exist, still choose to light.”
Fourth, the golden sentence bag: words of wisdom, enlightenment of the mind
The following is the activity of the golden sentence bag, each sentence is full of wisdom, worth our repeated taste and ponder:
Peng Jiyue lawyer:
“Our profession as lawyers is very special, to give direction to others, we must have light ourselves.”
“The value of lawyers lies in making the final fight for their clients through their professional power, rather than providing the illusion of certainty.”
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“True professional lawyerism is the willingness to do everything possible for every fairness, knowing that there is no certainty that the law will prevail.”
“Lawyers need to convey the value of positive emotions to their clients and illuminate the darkness for them with a sunny mindset.”
Dr. Guo Zhihua:
“Anxiety is essentially an adaptation problem that comes from our fight-flight response.”
“It's how we perceive things that is the most significant determinant of mood.”
“When we can go about changing our thoughts, we change them; when we can't change them in the moment, we observe them and distance ourselves from them.”
“All the work we do is not to completely eliminate anxiety, but to make sure that we and our clients do not have an emotional breakdown.”
Director Yonghui Zhu:
“Lawyer's work is inherently unhappy, because lawsuits are a depressing and agonizing thing, while lawyers make lawsuits their profession and face them every day, so don't expect it to be easy. Accept this premise in order to find the joy of working in an 'unhappy' job.”
“Anxiety is a standard part of being a good lawyer; a lawyer who is not anxious about his clients is not a good lawyer, and you can't be a good lawyer without being anxious about your clients.”
“The biggest anxiety of people is the fear of uncertainty about the future, when you are well prepared, you will not feel anxious, because you already have the bottom of not being anxious.”
These golden sentences are like a bright light, illuminating the lawyers' group to explore the path of mind building and emotion management in their career, helping them to maintain a sunny mindset in the complex practice environment, improve the quality of professional services, provide better legal services to clients, and at the same time, safeguard their own physical and mental health, and cultivate a strong professional vitality.
Follow-up Activity:
The series of activities of “Criminal Defense Talk” is a column specially set up by the Criminal Department of King&Capital Law Firm to strengthen internal communication, improve the practical ability of lawyers in criminal defense, and enhance the influence of the firm's criminal defense brand. The column aims to promote the King&Capital head office and branch offices, the firm and outside the counterparts, experts and scholars, the exchange and cooperation between the departments within the firm. The “Criminal Defense Talk” activity will be held once a month, and the next activity will continue to invite professionals to share and discuss.
Translated with DeepL.com (free version)
