The Story
What if the courtroom isn't the only way to pursue justice?
In Becoming a Restorative Lawyer, attorney and scholar Brenda Waugh invites readers to reimagine the very foundation of legal practice. Drawing from decades in the field, she offers a powerful critique of the adversarial legal system, which too often prioritizes winning over understanding, resolution over repair.
Her vision is different: a return to the human heart of justice.
Rooted in the principles of restorative justice, Waugh redefines the lawyer's role as a facilitator of connection, dialogue, and accountability. Through personal narrative, deep reflection, theory, and practice-based insight, she challenges legal professionals-and all justice-seekers-to rethink what justice means, and to begin practicing law in ways that center healing, dignity, and human connection.
More than a critique, this book introduces a new approach to lawyering-one that includes methods, skills, and techniques grounded in restorative principles. It's not a how-to; it's a why-now-an urgent call to transform how we think about and practice justice.
The book features original photography by Howard Zehr, a pioneer of the restorative justice movement. His images serve as visual metaphors, drawing the reader into moments of pause and deeper understanding-reminding us that how we see justice shapes how we seek it.
Becoming a Restorative Lawyer is for attorneys, law students, judges, mediators, paralegals, social justice advocates, and anyone ready to imagine-and practice-a more healing form of justice.
What might justice look like if it were designed to heal?
Author: Brenda Waugh
Publisher: Goodmedia Press
Published: 10/01/2025
Pages: 284
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.84lbs
Size: 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.64d
ISBN: 9798985242980
About the Author
Waugh, Brenda: - Brenda Waugh is a lawyer-mediator who has practiced law since 1987 as a legislative lawyer, assistant district attorney, legal services attorney, and in private practice. Brenda has included mediation, collaborative law, and restorative justice facilitation in her practice since 2010. While Becoming a Restorative Lawyer is her first book, she has published several law review articles on restorative justice and critical legal theory. She has taught courses at the West Virginia University College of Law and Eastern Mennonite University's Center for Justice and Peacebuilding and has conducted workshops throughout the United States and Canada.Zehr, Howard: - Howard Zehr is a distinguished professor of restorative justice at Eastern Mennonite University's Center for Justice and Peacebuilding and director emeritus of the Zehr Institute.
This title is not returnable
Description
What if the courtroom isn't the only way to pursue justice?
In Becoming a Restorative Lawyer, attorney and scholar Brenda Waugh invites readers to reimagine the very foundation of legal practice. Drawing from decades in the field, she offers a powerful critique of the adversarial legal system, which too often prioritizes winning over understanding, resolution over repair.
Her vision is different: a return to the human heart of justice.
Rooted in the principles of restorative justice, Waugh redefines the lawyer's role as a facilitator of connection, dialogue, and accountability. Through personal narrative, deep reflection, theory, and practice-based insight, she challenges legal professionals-and all justice-seekers-to rethink what justice means, and to begin practicing law in ways that center healing, dignity, and human connection.
More than a critique, this book introduces a new approach to lawyering-one that includes methods, skills, and techniques grounded in restorative principles. It's not a how-to; it's a why-now-an urgent call to transform how we think about and practice justice.
The book features original photography by Howard Zehr, a pioneer of the restorative justice movement. His images serve as visual metaphors, drawing the reader into moments of pause and deeper understanding-reminding us that how we see justice shapes how we seek it.
Becoming a Restorative Lawyer is for attorneys, law students, judges, mediators, paralegals, social justice advocates, and anyone ready to imagine-and practice-a more healing form of justice.
What might justice look like if it were designed to heal?
Author: Brenda Waugh
Publisher: Goodmedia Press
Published: 10/01/2025
Pages: 284
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.84lbs
Size: 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.64d
ISBN: 9798985242980
About the Author
Waugh, Brenda: - Brenda Waugh is a lawyer-mediator who has practiced law since 1987 as a legislative lawyer, assistant district attorney, legal services attorney, and in private practice. Brenda has included mediation, collaborative law, and restorative justice facilitation in her practice since 2010. While Becoming a Restorative Lawyer is her first book, she has published several law review articles on restorative justice and critical legal theory. She has taught courses at the West Virginia University College of Law and Eastern Mennonite University's Center for Justice and Peacebuilding and has conducted workshops throughout the United States and Canada.Zehr, Howard: - Howard Zehr is a distinguished professor of restorative justice at Eastern Mennonite University's Center for Justice and Peacebuilding and director emeritus of the Zehr Institute.
This title is not returnable
