Chris L. Newbold is executive vice president of ALPS Corporation and ALPS Property & Casualty Insurance Company, positions he has held since 2007. As executive vice president, Chris oversees ALPS’ business development team, sales strategy, and is ALPS’ chief liaison into the bar association community, where ALPS is endorsed by more state bars than any other carrier regardless of size.

 

Externally within legal circles, Chris is recognized nationally based on his roles as a strategic planning facilitator to bar associations and bar foundations, his leadership work in the lawyer well-being movement, and his work advising states regulators and/or bar associations exploring the merits of implementing mandatory malpractice insurance requirements or stricter client disclosure rules.

 

On the strategic planning front, Chris’ lawyer credentials, knowledge of legal industry trends, and keen observations into bar association relevance catapulted him into being a desired facilitator in legal conversations nationally. Chris’ unique and innovative strategic planning approach has resulted in his leading retreats and legal conversations at the national, state, and local levels, including with State Bars in Maine, Vermont, Virginia, Kansas, South Dakota, North Dakota, Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Nevada, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, as well as the National Conference of Women’s Bar Associations.

 

On the issue of lawyer well-being, Chris has been at the epicenter of discussion both strategically and as an advocate. As co-author of the movement launching 2016 report “The Path to Lawyer Well-Being: Practical Recommendations for Positive Change,” his leadership as co-chair of the National Task Force on Lawyer Well-Being, his participation on the ABA’s Working Group to Advance Well-Being in the Legal Profession, and his role as co-host of “The Path to Well-Being in Law” podcast, Chris has been at the forefront of a movement intent on creating a culture shift in the legal profession, and advancing personal and professional satisfaction in all sectors of legal life.

 

Chris has also been active nationally, counseling state bar associations and regulators on the viability of requiring lawyers to maintain malpractice insurance as a condition of licensure. Given Chris’ insurance industry knowledge, particularly within small firms and solo practitioners, his insights have been additive to the conversations in states like Nevada, Washington, California, and Idaho. Chris is also well versed in alternatives to mandatory insurance, like client disclosure rules.

 

Chris received his law degree from the University of Montana School of Law in 2001 and holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison (1994). Following his graduation from law school, he served one year as a law clerk for the Honorable Terry N. Trieweiler of the Montana Supreme Court. After his clerkship, he launched his ALPS career as president and principal consultant of ALPS Foundation Services, a non-profit fundraising and philanthropic management consulting firm. In that capacity, he authored “The Complete Guide to Bar Foundations” in conjunction with the National Conference of Bar Foundations.

 

Outside of the law, Chris is currently chair of the board of directors of the University of Montana Alumni Association, has authored two children’s book about collegiate mascots (“The Big Bucky Badger Mystery” [Wisconsin] and “The Wild Wolf Pack Mystery” [Nevada}) and enjoys his Montana lifestyle with his wife, Jennifer, and their three children, Cameron, Mallory, and Lauren.

We are excited to announce Dr. Martin Seligman as our keynote speaker who will kick off the conference on Wednesday, January 19! Register for any individual Track or the Full Conference Pass to attend this session.

Dr. Seligman, the founder of positive psychology, recently was ranked the #1 most influential psychologist of the past decade. In addition to his work as the director of the Penn Positive Psychology Center, he has authored more than 30 books (including best sellers in the United States and abroad), which have been translated into 50 languages. Among his better-known works are The Hope Circuit, Flourish, Authentic Happiness, and Learned Optimism. He is a leading authority in the fields of positive psychology, resilience, learned helplessness, depression, optimism, and pessimism.

Dr. Seligman’s current focus is on understanding the importance of agency in the history of human progress. He proposes that individuals, organizations, institutions, and even whole societies can become stuck and languish without the confidence, optimism, and imagination (the three elements of “agency”) needed to reimagine a new future and take steps to achieve it. Anne Brafford, IWIL’s vice president and Dr. Seligman’s former student, will join him in discussing how agency might help explain and resolve the current state of “stuckness” that prevents the legal profession as a whole and individual lawyers from flourishing. Questions we’ll consider include:

• What will the future of the profession look like if old ways of thinking drive out new generations of lawyers?
• How might agency help individual lawyers better identify and voice their values, preferences, and needs so that they can be their best selves in all domains of their lives?

You won’t want to miss this thought-provoking talk about reimagining our individual and collective future in the legal profession.

 

Thank You To Our Sponsors:

           

 

 

Studies finding that many lawyers aren’t fully thriving may not surprise you. But do studies exist to guide lawyers’ efforts at creating a flourishing professional life with less depression, anxiety, and burnout—while increasing well-being, positive emotions, job satisfaction, and job performance? The answer is a definitive yes. Susan Fowler, a sought-after speaker and bestselling author, explains how lawyers can do so by applying self-determination theory—a well-established theory of flourishing. Susan Fowler is the bestselling author of Why Motivating People Doesn’t Work… and What Does which has been translated into 14 languages and more recently, Master Your Motivation. She is co-author of two bestsellers with Ken Blanchard, including Self Leadership and The One Minute Manager and Leading at a Higher Level.

Thousands of studies, including in the legal profession, have found that self-determination theory predicts optimal functioning—the thoughts, behaviors, and emotions that help us be and feel our best. For example, a large-scale study of 6,000 practices lawyers, led by FSU law professor Larry Krieger, found that self-determination theory’s building blocks for thriving meaningfully impacted lawyers’ well-being—much more significantly, notably, than income. A subsequent study by Anne Brafford of more than 200 practicing lawyers found similar effects—with strong positive links to engagement and strong negative links with turnover intentions.

Susan has shared her message in all 50 states and over 40 countries, challenging traditional and outdated approaches for creating so-called work-life balance. She provides a blueprint for designing an authentic professional life where achievement, productivity, and well-being go hand-in-hand. You won’t want to miss her practical, science-based session proving that both you and your career can thrive.

 

Thank You To Our Sponsor:

Megan Lyons will teach her “WAKE UP + GO” framework for an 8-minute morning routine to help legal professionals use simple daily habits to recharge (and supercharge) their well-being and productivity. The routine—WAKEUP + GO—is an acronym that stands for: Water, Affirmations, Knowledge, Exercise, Unwind, Positivity, Gratitude, and One goal.

 

Learning Objectives

• Implement an 8-minute morning routine to prioritize themselves despite their busy-ness.
• Understand how powerful a few minutes of stillness an introspection is for their mental and physical health.
• Reduce pressure on themselves to implement something “perfect” and begin to take action today

Thank You To Our Sponsor:

Everyone needs time to rest and decompress after a day’s work. But, for legal professionals, that can be tricky. The end of the workday is often a blurry line… and that was before we started working from home. How can we stake out time for ourselves and enjoy the evening relaxation we need and deserve? In this session, lawyer and mindfulness expert Jon Krop will be joined by lawyer Siria Gutierrez to share best practices for building a relaxing, restorative evening routine. You’ll learn simple, evidence-based methods for de-stressing, creating boundaries between work and personal time, and getting better sleep.

 

Thank You To Our Sponsor:

Of the six dimensions of well-being identified by the National Task Force on Lawyer Well-Being in its seminal 2017 Well-Being Report, “Spiritual Well-Being” is probably the least understood and least discussed dimensions across law firms and law schools. In this program, participants will:

1. Learn the meaning and importance of “spirituality” in the law (and how it differs from “religion”).
2. Be guided through a series of experiential exercises to tap into a higher sense of purpose and meaning in your own work, and to more effectively align your career with your truest and most authentic self.
3. Leave with a set of tools to take back to your own law firms or law schools to help others tap into spirituality and a deeper sense of purpose and authenticity in their legal careers and lives.

Following his 2006 retirement as a Milwaukee County Circuit Court commissioner, Lindsey D. Draper oversaw Wisconsin’s adherence to the mandates of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act as the state’s disproportionate minority contact coordinator and compliance monitor until his retirement in 2014. Draper previously served as chair of the ABA then-Standing Committee on Client Protection and a trustee at St. Francis de Sales Seminary. He is currently chairman of the board of directors at St. Charles Youth and Family Services in Milwaukee; secretary of the board of directors of the Milwaukee County Historical Society; a director-at-large of the National Client Protection Organization; liaison to the Wisconsin Task Force on Lawyer Well-Being; a member of the Wisconsin Lawyers’ Fund for Client Protection Committee; and a member of the ABA Center for Professional Responsibility Continuing Legal Education Committee.

Casey is the Global Head of Legal Personnel and a member of the firm’s Senior Management Team.

 

Listed in The Best Lawyers in America and Chambers USA and a Fellow in the College of Labor and Employment Lawyers, Casey has represented employers in a wide variety of employment-related matters for nearly 25 years. She has successfully litigated in federal and state courts throughout the United States and routinely conducts complex workplace investigations and advises complicated policy issues.

 

As Global Head of Legal Personnel, Casey plays a key role in the Firm’s talent development efforts, including its Wellness Works program, which strives to promote the overall well-being of the attorneys and professional staff of the Firm. The focus is to take a proactive approach to promoting a healthy lifestyle by providing programs and resources on an ongoing basis on areas including stress reduction, work-life balance, nutrition/healthy habits, substance use awareness and mindfulness.

For lawyers, work-life balance always has been a challenge, but remote work during the pandemic has created even more obstacles for managing work/nonwork boundaries. Have the borders on your “regular” workday become undetectable? Have you been missing important family events to maintain your reputation as a hard-working overachiever? Are you regularly skimping on sleep and skipping healthy meals and exercise to squeeze more into your day? You’re not alone. Countless lawyers struggle to maintain good health and functioning while feeling fully engaged in and satisfied with their contributions to their work, families, and selves. But through proper time management, focus, and mindfulness about your own values and goals, you can create better balance. And a more balanced life leads to greater well-being, satisfaction, and productivity—which is a win-win for everyone.

This one-hour virtual workshop will teach several practical applications of work-life balance and how to leverage it to improve your well-being, family relationships, and work. You’ll rediscover through hands-on exercises what’s important in life and how to take a few steps toward aligning your daily behaviors with your priorities in life.

 

Thank You To Our Sponsor:

Vicarious trauma (VT) (also called secondary trauma) is a serious condition that can impact anyone who works with people who have experienced trauma. VT often results in impaired empathy and compassion, increased frustration, irritability, chronic stress, disengagement, and self-medicating behaviors. The negative effects of VT are insidious and cumulative and can lead to chronic anxiety, depression, numerous other physical and behavioral health problems, addiction, PTSD, burnout, and suicide. VT has a negative impact on the physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual well-being of legal service professionals. Those affected by VT include lawyers, paralegals, investigators, office support team members, judicial officers, and court staff, among others. Fortunately, many of the negative effects of VT can be prevented and mitigated. Once practitioners are made aware of VT and its symptoms, some simple but powerful tools and strategies can be used for successful self-care. Individuals, teams, and firms who encounter others’ trauma can be proactive in adopting regular practices to skillfully care for themselves and model the same for their team members.

Learning Objectives

• Understand what vicarious trauma is and who are at high risk of being impacted.
• Identify the symptoms of VT in themselves and others.
• Use multiple tools and techniques that they will experience in the workshop to prevent and mitigate the impact of VT, including a self-care plan that is developed as part of the workshop.

This presentation combines findings and tips provided in texts such as Levine, S. The Best Lawyer You Can Be (2018), American Bar Association, and Brafford, A., Well-Being Toolkit for Lawyers and Legal Employers (2018), American Bar Association, with the Polyvagal Theory made famous by Dr. Stephen Porges and made accessible to mental health clinicians through texts by Deb Dana, LCSW. Christina Loftus is both a J.D. and an LMSW and is able to translate the clinical applications of Polyvagal Theory for the rational, logical mindset of attorneys. Directly citing material from The Best Lawyer That You Can Be, Christina will report on the 2015 study by Krieger and Sheldon that shows the top qualities that make attorneys happy:

1. Authenticity
2. Relatedness (a close second)

In addition, she will discuss how befriending our nervous system can help attorneys reach a happier state, leading to more resilience in the face of chronic stressors and preventing burnout.

Learning Objectives

• Promote a higher sense of calm through practical exercises and tips.
• Understand that by developing “vagal tone,” our ability to cope with external circumstances (stress) improves.
• Relate to others with a heighted ability to connect, as opposed to automatically react.

More and more lawyers are embracing mindfulness practices, but knowledge of compassion practices is far less common. Research suggests, however, that compassion practices are as beneficial for attorneys who deal with stress and conflict every day. This session will provide training in compassion practices to help attorneys increase happiness, maintain a thriving law practice, and live up to ethical obligations.

Learning Objectives

• What compassion is and how it is embedded in legal work and attorney ethical obligations.
• How compassion can affect human wellbeing and mitigate the bodily stress response.
• Steps all attorneys can take to increase compassion and wellbeing in their lives and law practices.

 

Thank You To Our Sponsor:

Rena Paul is a lawyer, investigator, writer, teacher, and student of human behavior who specializes in sensitive investigations and cases involving sexual misconduct. She is the co-founder of Alcalaw LLP.

With 15 years of private and public sector experience in investigations, litigation, and appellate work, Rena’s practice combines a sharp strategic eye with a compassionate and trauma-informed approach.

Rena began her career at the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, where she was a member of the Sex Crimes Unit and handled misdemeanor and felony cases of all kinds from arraignment to appeal, including domestic violence, financial crimes, and homicide.

As a federal prosecutor at the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York, Rena led complex investigations and handled trials and appeals in cases involving criminal enterprises, gang violence, and sex trafficking. She was awarded the Department of Justice Director’s Awards for Superior Performance as an AUSA and Superior Performance by a Litigative Team, as well as the Federal Drug Agents Foundation “True American Hero” Award.

Following her time in government, Rena worked at a New York-based investigations firm conducting investigations involving sexual misconduct and discrimination and as a solo legal practitioner representing clients in cases involving allegations of sexual misconduct and workplace discrimination.

In partnership with the Institute for Innovation in Prosecution, Rena has drafted articles, trainings, and workbooks on topics including trauma-informed prosecution, prosecutor well-being, and culture change. She served as an expert for Lawyers Without Borders in connection with their human trafficking work in Tanzania. Rena is a founding member of Beyond #MeToo: A Working Group on Corporate Governance, Compliance and Risk.

An advocate for well-being in legal practice, Rena believes that attention to health by law students, lawyers, and legal employers is an ethical responsibility. A certified yoga instructor, she leads yoga, meditation, and mindfulness programs for lawyers, including at the New York City Bar, where she is a member of the Mindfulness & Well-Being in Law Subcommittee.

Rena is an adjunct professor at Brooklyn Law School, where she teaches Trial Advocacy and Learning From Practice, a seminar on lawyering, ethics, and well-being. Rena received her J.D. cum laude from Brooklyn Law School and a BA from Emory University.

Heidi Alexander is Massachusetts’ first director of the Supreme Judicial Court Standing Committee on Lawyer Well-Being. Before assuming that role, Heidi served as the deputy director of Massachusetts Lawyers Concerned for Lawyers and led its Law Office Management Assistance Program, practiced law at a small firm in Boston, and clerked for a justice on the New Jersey Supreme Court. She is the author of “Evernote as a Law Practice Tool,” past co-chair of ABA TECHSHOW, and founder of the ABA’s Women of Legal Technology initiative. Heidi is a native of Minnesota, a former collegiate goaltender for Amherst College Women’s Ice Hockey Team, and a graduate of Rutgers School of Law, where she was the editor-in-chief of the Rutgers Law Review. Heidi attends to her own well-being by coaching CrossFit and girl’s youth hockey, competing in powerlifting, and, most importantly, spending time with her three young kids. She can be reached via email at heidi@lawyerwellbeingma.org, Twitter @heidialexander, or LinkedIn www.linkedin.com/in/heidisarahalexander.

Externally within legal circles, Chris is recognized nationally based on his roles as a strategic planning facilitator to bar associations and bar foundations, his leadership work in the lawyer well-being movement, and his work advising states regulators and/or bar associations exploring the merits of implementing mandatory malpractice insurance requirements or stricter client disclosure rules.

On the strategic planning front, Chris’ lawyer credentials, knowledge of legal industry trends, and keen observations into bar association relevance catapulted him into being a desired facilitator in legal conversations nationally. Chris’ unique and innovative strategic planning approach has resulted in his leading retreats and legal conversations at the national, state, and local levels, including with State Bars in Maine, Vermont, Virginia, Kansas, South Dakota, North Dakota, Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Nevada, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, as well as the National Conference of Women’s Bar Associations.

On the issue of lawyer well-being, Chris has been at the epicenter of discussion both strategically and as an advocate. As co-author of the movement launching 2016 report “The Path to Lawyer Well-Being: Practical Recommendations for Positive Change,” his leadership as co-chair of the National Task Force on Lawyer Well-Being, his participation on the ABA’s Working Group to Advance Well-Being in the Legal Profession, and his role as co-host of “The Path to Well-Being in Law” podcast, Chris has been at the forefront of a movement intent on creating a culture shift in the legal profession, and advancing personal and professional satisfaction in all sectors of legal life.

Chris has also been active nationally, counseling state bar associations and regulators on the viability of requiring lawyers to maintain malpractice insurance as a condition of licensure. Given Chris’ insurance industry knowledge, particularly within small firms and solo practitioners, his insights have been additive to the conversations in states like Nevada, Washington, California, and Idaho. Chris is also well versed in alternatives to mandatory insurance, like client disclosure rules.

Chris received his law degree from the University of Montana School of Law in 2001 and holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison (1994). Following his graduation from law school, he served one year as a law clerk for the Honorable Terry N. Trieweiler of the Montana Supreme Court. After his clerkship, he launched his ALPS career as president and principal consultant of ALPS Foundation Services, a non-profit fundraising and philanthropic management consulting firm. In that capacity, he authored “The Complete Guide to Bar Foundations” in conjunction with the National Conference of Bar Foundations.

Outside of the law, Chris is currently chair of the board of directors of the University of Montana Alumni Association, has authored two children’s book about collegiate mascots (“The Big Bucky Badger Mystery” [Wisconsin] and “The Wild Wolf Pack Mystery” [Nevada}) and enjoys his Montana lifestyle with his wife, Jennifer, and their three children, Cameron, Mallory, and Lauren.

Some law firm leaders are noting a greater reluctance and tempered enthusiasm by women and attorneys of color as we return to hybrid and step back into the office. At some point in their careers, people feel like they don’t belong. This challenge can be acute for those who feel like they are representing their group (e.g., attorneys from marginalized communities or identities). The pandemic has exacerbated and, in some cases, created some of those feelings, even in people who have never felt that way previously. As we begin the transition to a hybrid work model, what are the unique challenges faced by marginalized attorneys, and what can we do to create a greater sense of psychological safety within organizations. During this session, participants will hear from lawyers and experts on the range of challenges to help support building greater empathy for these communities, and also discuss ideas organizations can consider to help support their teams and individuals with these challenges.

Learning Objectives

• Incorporate wellbeing strategies to create a seamless Return to Work Process.
• Support all workers by creating a psychologically safe workplace.
• Understand the role of self-compassion when harmful incidents take place.

 

Thank You To Our Sponsor:

They say it takes a village to raise a child; in many ways, the same is true of building a well-being program. To engage your population and create a platform that embodies your organization’s culture, you need to have allies and supports on many fronts, all committed to your program’s goals. This session will take a look at the path traveled by Latham & Watkins, a large law firm that has been in the well-being space for over a dozen years, and which has learned through trial-and-error some important lessons about:

1. Engaging leadership and collaborating with verticals across the firm.
2. Partnering with external providers to create customized programming.
3. Developing true partnerships around health and well-being.

This roundtable, led by the firm’s director of global health & well-being, includes the firm’s chief human resources officer, an external collaborator in the mental health arena, and a representative from a large medical institution that partners with the firm on several fronts. They will discuss what it takes to move past lofty ideas and one-off programs to build a solid and comprehensive platform around well-being.

Learning Objectives

• Understand the importance of working across verticals in a large organization, and how to do so in practice.
• Cite to practical steps that must be considered in developing infrastructure around mental health, including front line point people.
• Partner more effectively with outside providers, beyond just bringing them in for presentations or purchasing their products.

Thank You To Our Sponsor:

Everyone knows that law firm lawyers suffer from high rates of burnout, right? This is a common belief.  And it might be true.  But there have been very few studies of burnout in the legal profession—and even fewer using a reliable, validated measure to investigate the question. So, in the Spring of 2021, IWIL conducted a survey (led by IWIL Vice President Anne Brafford) to investigate the frequency of burnout among participating lawyers and support staff as well as identify factors that contribute to burnout.  Over 700 lawyers and nearly 300 support staff responded. This session will cover results of the survey and recommendations for alleviating burnout in law firms.

Burnout prevention is a promising addition to law firm well-being programs. Burnout has a significant relationship with depression, substance use disorders, and suicidal thinking. But burnout itself is a non-medical, more socially-acceptable label that has limited stigma. This could make burnout prevention a useful complement to legal employers’ efforts to prevent mental health and substance use disorders, which tend to be stigmatized.

 

Thank You To Our Sponsor:

We asked a group of law firm well-being directors, “What are the tough issues in law firm well-being? What are the persistent, systematic challenges to lawyer well-being? How do we tackle them, and what incremental steps can be taken to start to have an impact?”

This rotational session will give you the opportunity to join three different, 30- minute sessions, covering topics such as empathetic leadership, boundary setting, developing associates in a hybrid environment, thriving in a multigenerational law firm, and psychological capital.

You will hear from well-being experts, attorneys-turned-educators, authors, and researchers who are developing practical solutions to improve well-being. Learn new strategies as well as lessons from their successes and failures. Join us for interactive discussions and keep a pen and notepaper handy!

Tracy L. Kepler is the risk control consulting director for CNA’s Lawyers

Insurance Program. In this role, she designs and develops content and

distribution of risk control initiatives relevant to the practice of law. She

collaborates with the underwriting and claims teams to develop and execute

strategies for the profitable growth of the program. Tracy lectures frequently at

CNA-sponsored events, state and local bar associations, and national

seminars hosted by industry-leading organizations. She also writes articles

focusing on law firm risk control and professional responsibility issues.

 

Prior to joining CNA, Tracy served as the director of the American Bar

Association’s Center for Professional Responsibility (CPR), providing national

leadership in developing and interpreting standards and scholarly resources in

legal and judicial ethics, professional regulation, professionalism, client

protection, professional liability, and attorney well-being. From 2014–2016,

Tracy served as an associate solicitor in the Office of General Counsel for the

U.S. Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO), where she concentrated her

practice in the investigation, prosecution, and appeal of patent/trademark

practitioner disciplinary matters before the agency, U.S. district courts, and

Federal Circuit; provided policy advice on ethics and discipline related matters

to senior management; and drafted and revised agency regulations. From

2000–2014, she served as senior litigation counsel for the Illinois Attorney

Registration and Disciplinary Commission (ARDC), where she investigated

and prosecuted cases of attorney misconduct.

 

Tracy has served in various volunteer capacities, including as president

of the board of the National Organization of Bar Counsel (NOBC), a non-profit

organization of legal professionals whose members enforce ethics rules that

regulate the professional conduct of lawyers who practice law in the United

States and abroad. Tracy is currently an adjunct professor at American

University’s Washington College of Law, Georgetown University Law Center,

And Loyola School of Law (Chicago), teaching Legal Ethics. Committed to the

promotion and encouragement of professional responsibility and attorney well-being

throughout her career, Tracy has served on the ABA’s Commission

on Lawyers Assistance Programs, where she was a commission member, a

member of its Advisory Committee, the chair of its Education and Senior

Lawyer Committees, and a member of its National Conference Planning

Committee. She is a board member of the Institute for Well-Being in Law

(formerly the National Task Force on Lawyer Well-Being) and is an author of

its Well-Being Report. She is also an advisory board member of the

Mindfulness in Law Society. She is a graduate of Northwestern University in

Evanston, Illinois, and received her law degree from New England School of

Law in Boston, Massachusetts.

Law schools have a lot to do to make their learning environments more inclusive, responsive, and more humane as we train the next generation of legal professionals. This session will provide a space to explore what some schools are doing and to brainstorm more things we could be doing to support our students, our faculty, and our staff. It will be an opportunity to share ideas and concrete tools/tips about programs schools are doing and could be doing to support their students as they begin to form their professional identities – keeping in mind that wellness is a critical component to their identities.

Learning Objectives

• Think about their law school experience – what supported them, what did not, and what they want to change in their law school settings going forward.
• Analyze what they are currently doing and think about how they could be doing things in a more mindful and compassionate and supportive way.
• Create sessions, programs and more to support law students as they make their way into and through law school.

This session details the shift from a lens of self-care as an individual responsibility to an institutional culture of mutual care where well-being is incorporated into systems. Through an interdisciplinary model, we strive to promote the personal and professional skills needed to become well-rounded practitioners who incorporate well-being as essential to their professional responsibility and as the cornerstone of longevity in the field.

Our goal is to create a culture of mutual care, where faculty, staff, and administration demonstrate their investment in all students’ personal and professional well-being. Systems are adapted or created with the well-being of students, faculty, and staff in mind. Some examples include:

• Pre-orientation workshops and orientation programming focused on mental health.
• First-year curriculum containing two courses with an emphasis on academic support, personal well-being, and professional identity development.
• Upper-level coursework in Resilient Practice for Clinical Students, which incorporates the tenants of trauma-informed care into the law school classroom.
• Our offices of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and Career and Professional Development include aspects of personal and professional well-being in their programming.
• Our schoolwide strategic plan includes a focus on training opportunities for faculty and students regarding resilient and trauma-informed practice.

Learning Objectives

• Adopt well-being as a skill necessary to the competent and successful practice of law.
• Develop strategies to shift the burden of well-being from entirely law student self-care to a culture of mutual care between the law student and the institution.
• Build relationships and well-being programming throughout all departments.

Law students experience stressors beyond the rigor of studies, including finances, work/family obligations, race, gender, and immigration status—all can factor into stress and performance. The current situation at many law schools is that students have a plan and roadmap for their academics but lack regular planning to meet their mental health wellness needs. A survey of 3,300 law students from 15 law schools revealed high risk for alcoholism, depression, mild to severe anxiety, and suicidal thoughts. Another study revealed that 42 percent of law students felt as though they needed counseling for mental health issues, but only half sought it.

Our 60-minute interactive program is intended to provide legal administrators and decision-makers with a roadmap and to experience how a simple coaching tool could be used at orientation and annual check-ins to measure student life satisfaction. With balance, life satisfaction, the fulfillment of basic psychological needs, and contentment usually follow (Eakman, 2016). These events further allow the school to work with the student to co-create an individualized plan supporting the student’s well-being throughout their academic career at the law school.

Learning Objectives

• Understand the stress and strain law students face (including those beyond just the rigors of study) and the importance of screening students on an ongoing basis, given the high need and low usage of mental health services. Learn the importance of early intervention.
• Experience and utilize an easy to use screening tool that measures the level of satisfaction in 8 key areas of a student’s life (Career, Finance, Health, Family & Friends, Romance, Personal Development, Fun & Recreation, and Contribution to Society.) Further use the tool to create individualized well-being plans and identify needed resources. These exercises will be preceded by brief mindfulness introductions/focusing.
• Hear from the administrative, student and mental health perspective the importance of incorporating screening and well-being plans ongoingly and efficiently.

 

Since 2018, when Penn Law became one of the first law schools to sign the National Task Force on Lawyer Well-Being Pledge, it has gradually expanded well-being interventions throughout the school’s curricular and extracurricular environments. Hear about the successes and the challenges in an active session that will provide practical suggestions for all types of legal organizations to help expand your well-being initiatives.

Learning Objectives

• Map out a strategy for increasing explicit and implicit well-being initiatives in their organization.
• Anticipate and address skeptical constituencies within their organization.
• Identify a host of programs that are easily implementable and customize them to their organization.

The 2014 Survey of Law Student Well-Being (SLSWB) was the first multi-law school study of its kind in over 20 years. Data was collected addressing law student use of alcohol and street drugs, prescription drug use, and the mental health concerns and help seeking attitudes of law students. The seminal 2016 article summarizing results of the SLSWB has been downloaded almost 11,000 times.

 

With a desire to learn whether law student behaviors, mental health, and help seeking attitudes have changed since 2014 and to learn more about how trauma may affect law students, as well as how mental health issues and other concerns may affect law students’ bar preparation, the SLSWB authors received grant support to conduct an updated survey. Results of the 2021 Updated Survey of Law Student Well-Being from more than 40 U.S. schools (about 20% of all U.S. law schools) compares data from the 2014 survey, while adding a discussion of new topics, including how trauma affects law students, the extent to which mental health and other concerns may affect bar exam passage, and a summary of open-ended comments from students about what law schools do well and could do to improve law student well-being.

 

Erin Bushnell is the chief human resources officer at Cozen O’Connor. Erin oversees all aspects of human resources for the firm, including staff recruitment, employee relations, talent development, employee engagement, compensation, benefits, and an award-winning wellness program. She focuses on the initiation and management of human resources programs and policies that further the strategy of the firm.

 

Prior to joining the firm, Erin was the director of HR and associate vice president for a professional services firm. She is a certified Senior Professional in Human Resources and received her Bachelor of Arts in Sociology from Franklin and Marshall College. Erin currently serves on the board of directors of the Junior League of Philadelphia and will serve as the organization’s president beginning in 2015.

John Mudd presently serves as the executive director and acting general counsel of the State Bar of Montana. Prior to joining the bar in 2018, John was the director of development and alumni relations for seven years at the Alexander Blewett III School of Law at the University of Montana. John helped direct the school’s record-setting capital campaign, which raised over $20 million. He also worked to help establish the Max S. Baucus Institute at the law school and secure the founding gifts for the same. The public policy institute is named for Ambassador Max Baucus, former U.S. ambassador to the People’s Republic of China.

John graduated cum laude from the Catholic University of American in Washington, D.C., where he was elected Phi Beta Kappa. He received his law degree from the University of Montana School of Law. During law school, John was an articles editor for the Montana Law Review and was a member of the school’s National Moot Court Competition team, which won the national championship.

After law school, John entered private practice in Missoula, Montana, during which he served a term as secretary of the Montana Senate. Prior to joining the law school, John served as executive counsel for the Montana commissioner of securities and insurance. He was selected as a Rising Star by Mountain States Super Lawyers before leaving private practice.

John currently serves on the boards of the Max S. Baucus Institute, the Montana World Affairs Council, and the Montana Justice Foundation, among others. He has been appointed as a “Montana Ambassador” by the governor of Montana.

John is also a frequent presenter on lawyer well-being topics, including for CoLAP, the State Bar of Montana, the Montana Defense Trial Lawyers, the Jackrabbit Bar, and the Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis. He lives in Missoula and Helena, and is the very proud parent of a teenage daughter. In his free time, he enjoys fly fishing, sailing, painting, and drumming (all of which he reports need work).

*A note from Bree: To get a measure of the man, check out his blog: https://johnmudd.blog/.

(CLE 60 min – DEI) 

Law firms and other employers are prioritizing diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) as never before, but many still are struggling to create work environments in which Black lawyers feel they can thrive. As a result, firms’ progress on hiring, retaining, and promoting valued talent from minority groups continues to be disappointing. Many are wondering: “What are we doing wrong?”

To try to provide some insights, Harvard Business School Professor Ranjai Gulati (along with his colleague Frank Cooper III) conducted interviews and focus groups with Black executives working in a variety of blue-chip companies with strong DEI programs about their workplace experiences. They found that, despite their employers’ efforts to implement DEI best practices, many Black executives felt isolated, unable to be authentic, and less confident.

Drawing on his findings (summarized in a recent Harvard Business Review article “What Do Black Executives Really Want?”), Professor Gulati will offer concrete ways for legal employers and individual managers to make a difference by ensuring that Black employees feel safe, seen, and supported. Building workplace cultures that are attentive and tailored to the individual and varying needs of lawyers in firms’ diverse workforces has the powerful potential to achieve many positive outcomes that legal employers care about, including individual-level experiences of well-being, belonging, authenticity, and effectiveness, as well as organizational-level goals, such as attracting and retaining valued talent from historically marginalized groups.

Professor Gulati will be joined by Preston Pugh, a partner at Crowell & Moring LLP, who will share his own insights arising from Prof. Gulati’s work and his personal experiences in the legal profession.

Thank You To Our Sponsor:

This session will discuss the new paradigm for leadership and the roles professional development leaders and teams can play in supporting their firms as they seek to enhance engagement, learning and retention for the partners and associates at their firms. We will explain and discuss the set of skills partners and associates need in order to excel in the new hybrid and distributed working environment. We will review the recent research on “multimodal leadership” and best practices for supporting well-being for attorneys and professional staff. Finally, we will review best practices for a sustained focus on training, coaching, and diversity and inclusion.

This session will provide a brief summary/overview of the signs and symptoms of burnout and mental health challenges and provide some easy and accessible ways to help—from having compassionate conversations (with conversation maps) to connecting people to appropriate resources. We will then introduce the concept of psychological safety and how critical it is to effectively help those struggling within your law firms. Then we will introduce the MIT/Sloane Multimodal Leadership Model and use it as a basis for how leaders can help look out for and address those who may need help. By flexing their muscles as “conductor,” “coach,” “champion,” and “catalyst,” leaders can ensure the well-being of their teams and avoid burnout.

Learning Objectives:

• Understand the multimodal leadership model and identify ways to integrate this new paradigm in their leadership approach and infuse well-being into the culture of their firms
• Learn to spot the warning signs of burnout out and well-being challenges to apply effective interventions
• Promote psychological safety to increase retention and engagement.

 

Thank You To Our Sponsor:

(CLE 90 min –  Eth & Prof)

The global pandemic has caused an upheaval in the legal profession with spikes in mental health problems and anxiety about returning to the office and retraction of flexible working. But, demand for legal work has remained strong and the market for new talent has been highly competitive. At the same time, media reports reflect that over 40% of workers nationwide are considering exiting their jobs or professions as part of “The Great Resignation.” Generational tensions also are apparent, with younger lawyers wanting firms to place a higher priority on well-being and supporting non-work priorities. While such complex issues cannot be solved easily or quickly, our panel will offer initial insights. They will focus on how partners and other supervising lawyers can better support their teams in ways that not only will support mental health and well-being, but also can help retain and attract top talent. Using a fireside chat format, Libby Coreno will focus on three ways that supervising lawyers can provide support: work flexibility, person-centered leadership, and practices to enable teams to unplug.

 

Session Agenda

Segment 1:  Introduction     Duration: 10 minutes

Libby Coreno, co-chair of the New York State Bar Association Well-Being Task Force, will introduce the session and set the stage for the discussion.

Duration: 10 minutes

 

Segment 2: Person-Centered Management      Duration: 20 minutes

Description:

Amanda Smith, chief engagement officer at Morgan Lewis, will talk about practical strategies that partners and other supervisory lawyers can employ to integrate well-being, engagement, and inclusion into day-to-day management of teams and steps that firms and other legal employers can take to incorporate the same into core management principles.

 

 

Segment 3: Supporting Work Flexibility   Duration: 20 minutes

Description: Stephanie Scharf, an esteemed thought-leader on gender issues in the legal profession, will talk about the imperative of flexibility for well-being and retention of women lawyers, as well as supervisory strategies for supporting flexibility. See Stephanie’s recent articles “Hybrid Work Models Are Key To Gender Parity In Law Firms” and “Law Firm Talent Must Reflect Shifting US Demographics.”

 

Segment 4: Enabling Your Team To Unplug        Duration: 20 minutes

Lawyers’ ability to unplug is crucial to protecting and promoting well-being and preventing burnout. Many lawyers work in teams, which impacts their ability to manage their own work and non-work priorities. As Harvard Business School Professor Lisa Perlow put it in her article “Manage Your Team’s Collective Time:” “[I]n the modern workplace, with its emphasis on connectivity and collaboration, the real problem is not how individuals manage their own time. It’s how we manage our collective time—how we work together to get the job done.”  This also encompasses supporting team members’ work-life management efforts (see “Supervisor Work/Life Training Gets Results”). In this segment, law firm partner Richard Amador will talk about his own such practices for supporting his team members’ well-being.

Duration: 20 minutes

 

Segment 5: Wrap-up            Duration: 10 minutes

Libby Coreno will do a wrap-up and give closing thoughts.

 

Thank You To Our Sponsor:

Many senior lawyers are searching for a purpose in their post-retirement lives. Drawing from his recent article, “Could a purpose deficit fill unmet legal need?,” Tom Sharbaugh will offer strategies for both lawyers and law firms to help fulfill that goal.