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*Some exceptions apply
A CLE collaboration and presented by Lawyers Concerned for Lawyers (LCL)
An introduction to the trauma-informed lawyering framework which will help legal professionals identify and acknowledge trauma and triggers in their lives. This session will increase our awareness of the impacts trauma has on the legal profession as a whole, and on each of us personally and professionally. Attendees will walk away with strategies for self-reflection, self-regulation, self-critique, and self-awareness which could improve their personal and professional relationships.
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As “the new normal” continues to evolve, the legal profession—especially pro bono and legal aid practitioners—have an increasing interest in attorney and client mental health. Low-income people have been devastated by the pandemic. When they come to us for help, these clients are often sharing stress, depression, and other mental health concerns along with their legal issues. Pro bono and legal aid practitioners are best equipped to serve indigent clients when attorneys have tools to support their own mental health, and have knowledge of resources for clients in crisis.
The Thirteenth Annual Children and the Law Summit.
Lawyers are exposed to experiences that can lead to higher stress and greater consequences than those in many other careers. There is a clearly recognized continuum where unresolved chronic stress becomes a predictor for substance use problems and mental illness, particularly depression and anxiety. By understanding this continuum and the facts about addiction and mental illness, lawyers can reduce their risk and, hopefully, get help earlier when there is a mental health, substance use, or related problem.
The last few years have disrupted lawyers’ professional and personal lives. Attorneys may feel like their lives seem out of control, yet they are not alone in feeling the effects of a pandemic, economic downturn, or political divisiveness. Clients are affected too. Attorneys must manage their own emotions while simultaneously being sensitive and responsive to their clients. This program will identify normal feelings, reactions, and behaviors, and recognize when they are cause for concern. For some clients, reactions may rise to the level of impairment. Impairment comes in many forms, including substance use, addiction, or other mental impairments. It is not a lawyer’s job to diagnose, yet a lawyer must act accordingly.
A Presentation Collaboration Series led by the MSBA Well-Being Committee
In a pioneering initiative, U.S. Bank and seven top law firms developed and implemented outside counsel engagement guidelines focused on well-being. These guidelines, addressing areas such as out-of-office norms and communication strategies, aim to positively influence lawyers' daily lives and work culture.
In recognition of Pro Bono Week, prepare to be inspired from a panel of pro bono attorneys about pro bono work! Instead of being one more thing on the to-do list, join and hear how it helps improve wellness and provides fulfillment.
This program briefly reviews the lawyers’ impairment and well-being reports. It then explores proven elements of resilience by the US Army and others and offers examples and methods for incorporating them into our work as lawyers, reducing our risk, and enhancing our well-being.
Introduction to your Employee Benefits | A New Attorneys Guide
Learn what all those benefit documents you received on your first day of work really mean. At this CLE, we will discuss common employee benefits that you could be receiving from your employer. We will also provide a high-level overview of the various ways in which you may encounter employee benefits in your legal practice. We hope you leave this session with a better understanding (and appreciation for) the complex world of employee benefits.
You won’t want to miss the dynamic brother and sister duo as they discuss the power of the mind as it relates to managing people and managing stress. Listen, learn, and laugh along with Jon and Rachel, siblings who grew up riding their big wheels together through the streets of North Central Wisconsin navigating a strong family tree that includes: lawyers, doctors, engineers, teachers, and factory workers.
As lawyers, our duties under the Rules of Professional Conduct underpin our service to clients. We are accustomed to quiet withdrawals, transfers of representation, and serving clients well, even when clients are at their most difficult. We work in the midst of looming deadlines, mountains of cases, negativity, and other stressful conditions. Our duties as advocates frequently put us in the line of fire with difficult parties and opposing counsel, while requiring us to maintain the integrity of the profession and respect the rights of others. Learn how stress, negativity, and ethical duties interact and how we can better manage our practice, our lives, and our ethical obligations.
Join our discussion on managing your goals, and stress, in the New Year. With 2022 over, many of us have set professional (in addition to personal) goals for 2023. Discussion topics will include how to set attainable goals, measuring progress on your goals, managing time, prioritizing, how to say "no" (politely), and dealing with stress. The discussion will be moderated but is attendee-driven. Please feel free to bring your thoughts and be prepared to share.
Our profession and our clients are aging. Learn about mental health (including cognitive impairment) and addiction issues and the realities, risk factors, and resources specific to older adults. Understand unique barriers to getting help for older adults, characteristics of older adult mental health, chemical dependency and gambling problems, and the difference between dementia, grief, and depression. The program will touch on ethical issues if an impairment is present and offer a protocol to encourage someone to get help.
Retired or not, senior judges and lawyers have complex worries and distractions, now more than ever. Senior Judge Miles will introduce tips for some mindful time-outs and will take a deeper dive into the scientific and anecdotal evidence which supports the benefits of mindfulness and meditation. Neuroplasticity of the brain is a key concept and Judge Miles will show that a mindfulness practice begun at any stage of life promotes improvement in resilience to stressors. The curious and the doubtful are especially welcome!
As the surge of the pandemic lessens, many law firms have established a “new normal” work environment, shaped by the lessons of the pandemic. This CLE explores factors that shaped the new workplace, a variety of “return to work” approaches, and the impact on the well-being of lawyers and legal staff and on the business of law.
This Elimination of Bias CLE examines the disposition of 210 bankruptcy adversary cases, and how the intersection of economic status and cognitive bias negatively impacts bankruptcy debtors.
In serving clients, the profession, and the system of justice, lawyers bring intellect, passion, and skill, carry significant workloads, and work long hours in close relationship with others solving difficult problems. Lawyers seek not only justice and successful resolution for clients and others, but also fairness, meaning, and intrinsic and external rewards for themselves. These aspects of a lawyers’ work including bias can cause chronic stress, resulting in burnout, poor physical health, or other health challenges such as anxiety, depression, substance use, addiction, and mental illness. Effectively managing workplace stress is critical to lawyer health, competence, and ethical responsibility.
Lawyer Wellness CLE Series
Presented by Lawyers Concerned for Lawyers and co-sponsored by the Criminal Law, Civil Litigation, and Solo Small Practice Experience Sections
The stress lawyers face is a predictor for depression, and untreated depression is the #1 predictor for suicide. Lawyers must also deal with the fact that clients can be suicidal. This program will help you understand the facts and myths about suicide; recognize signs and indicators for clinical depression, anxiety, and suicide; and provide resources and a protocol for offering and seeking help to prevent suicide.
Neuropsychologist Dr. David Alter returns to share more about planning and living your retirement. Dr. Alter’s emphasis on the intersection of mind, brain, body, and behavior leads to a new way of looking at your post-career self. Learn how lawyers, heavily “left-brain” dependent, can appreciate our right-brain abilities and take steps toward a more rewarding future: one that balances certainty with discovery and leads to more sustainable joy.
Being a grief-informed attorney can take time and energy but understanding grief and developing various tools and approaches to providing supportive representation to grieving clients can not only strengthen an attorney's practice but benefit the client immensely as well.
When Minnesota “accidentally” legalized some forms of THC last year, it made recreational marijuana legalization all but guaranteed. This raises a not insignificant amount of questions for the construction industry. Can employers prohibit all marijuana use for safety sensitive positions? What happens if an employee tests positive? What if we find marijuana at work? What happens if an employee gets injured at work and we hear rumors they were high? This session will cover the likely answers to these questions and provide some practical approaches to addressing weed in the workplace.