Check out our featured interviews with some of the finest integrative lawyers to gain a greater understanding of how the integrative law field is rapidly expanding.

Interview with J. Kim Wright (October, 2024)

Over the summer, the Center on Dispute Resolution was proud to have J. Kim Wright represent the Center at various dispute resolution conferences focused upon integrative law in Spain and Italy. We had the opportunity to sit down with Wright and discuss her experiences and the role of integrative law at Quinnipiac University.

Wright’s journey to becoming an attorney is not what others would say is “traditional.” Early on in her career, Wright recognized the possibility that the legal field could be different than how it was portrayed. Wright describes her experience in law school and immediately post graduation as “rejecting” what was traditionally taught to everyone as how to be a lawyer. Wright began her career as the director of a domestic violence agency and pursued other nonprofit work. Everything fell into place when Wright attended a seminar in Atlanta, Georgia where she met Forrest Bayrd, a lawyer who was practicing law in “a different way.” Bayrd spoke about bringing dignity and respect into the practice of divorce law. For Wright, this was the day that the world went from black and white to color.

Wright has described her contribution to integrative law as “using her own life as a laboratory.” Wright knew there were more possibilities than just practicing the law “the old way.” Wright opened up her own firm where she experimented with integrative law techniques in the divorce sphere. In her own practice, Wright worked towards creating vision statements with clients that helped to acknowledge that while frustration was shared in a divorce situation, frustration and anger did not need to run the entire process. After several years of practice, Wright became what is known as a “digital nomad.” She began traveling the world, attending conferences, and meeting like minded individuals to help pave the way for the integrative law movement. Wright authored three books for the ABA all in tune with integrative law. Since then, Wright continues to pioneer the integrative law movement and remains a predominant force in reminding lawyers that we are so much more than just individuals who practice law.

Integrative law is the concept of knowing yourself well enough as an individual, as a lawyer, to know that you are not just putting your values onto others. Integrative law is the authenticity of talking about your values, knowing what makes you tick as an individual and knowing how to engage with other individuals. While writing Lawyers as Peacemakers: Practicing Holistic, Problem-Solving Law, Wright identified several pillars that are vital in the integrative law movement and to being an integrative lawyer in general: to be reflective, to be valued and purposed based, to be arbitrators of a new consciousness, and to think in terms of systems and designs. Integrative lawyers look at the bigger picture and enjoy a sense of interconnectedness.

Over the summer, Wright represented the Center on Dispute Resolution at the International Academy of Law and Mental Health in Barcelona. At this conference, individuals from all over the globe came together to engage in over two-hundred sessions that ranged in topics from trauma informed lawyering to finding intersections in the law. Wright spearheaded a panel on conscious contracts and how to be an integrative lawyer for marginalized communities. Wright also attended the Festival of Consciousness in Barcelona which promoted collaborative law through the fundamental purpose of “participating in the natural process of human evolution, promoting its transformation, promoting knowledge, discernment and self-exploration.” Finally, Wright attended a retreat in Italy which took a deeper dive into the conscious contracts process and the idea that our communities are what gives us strength as individuals.

Wright currently teaches a course called the Integrative Law Approach and Negotiation Experiential at Quinnipiac School of Law. Since the inception of the class, Wright notes that, “What I have seen in the work I have been doing is that as our values shift, we are shifting the law.” Quinnipiac Law alumni Jennifer Eppler helped Wright in creating core concepts for the class which included the imagery of tree roots, “you get deeper and deeper into who you are then different ways of practicing law show up” Teaching students about conscious contracts early on in their career creates an entry point for young lawyers to experience their own values while practicing law. Overall, the message of the class is to help law students with the professional identity piece. Basically, Wright notes, helping students to be clear about who they are so when they go into their careers they are utilizing a more ethical decision making process because they haven been practicing their own personal ethics through the coursework of the class.

Finally Wright touched upon how lawyers can be more integrative when discussing difficult topics, such as the current political climate of the country. Wright states that, “Knowing your values is not a political statement, it is about who you are and your experiences.” We can shift our understanding of difficult conversations when we converse from person to person instead of position to position.

For more information on J. Kim Wright check out her personal website and our tab on the Integrative Law Project at Quinnipiac Law.

By Alexandria Chura, Fellow ‘23-’24