Education

Elimination of Bias

Lawyers face stress daily and are subject to circumstances which can lead to higher levels of stress than for those with other careers. There is a clearly recognized continuum where unresolved chronic stress becomes a predictor for substance use problems and mental illness, particularly depression, which are also more prevalent among lawyers.  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 or addiction/dependency problem.  Signs, symptoms, risk factors and recovery regarding these problems will be presented.  Personal examples and information on Minnesota’s lawyer assistance program will also be provided.

Ethics

Lawyers often see clients who appear to be suffering from substance misuse, addiction, or other impairments.  While it is not our job to diagnose, what is our role, responsibility, and opportunity? How do our biases govern our actions and behaviors?  What if the issue is not with a client but with a colleague?  The answers are seldom simple.  This program will provide an ethical framework for lawyers facing these questions in addition to practical guidance and resources.

Ethics

Even before the COVID-19 Pandemic, lawyers relied heavily on smartphones and related technologies. Since the start of the pandemic, attorney reliance on technology has increased exponentially, becoming a necessary part of the practice of law today. This program highlights cultural over-reliance on technology while exploring potential ethical and well-being issues raised when lawyers become over-reliant on their technology.

Ethics or Elimination of Bias

This program is designed for colleagues and managers who may observe changes in behavior that give rise to concerns.  It discusses how to recognize and obtain help when you, a work colleague, or another professional colleague may have substance use, mental health, or other issues that affect behavior, conduct, and performance.  Topics include understanding the issues, special considerations for remote work, approaching the lawyer (including interventions), arranging assistance such as treatment, and practice management issues during and following a reduced work schedule or leave of absence.  Colleagues can save careers, families, and lives by taking action.

Elimination of Bias

In the best of times the legal profession is at risk for high levels of stress and mental health challenges. During challenging times our professional and personal lives may seem out of control and this can affect our work and relationships. This program will identify normal feelings, reactions, and behaviors, and recognize when they are cause for concern. It will examine the role of stigma and bias in preventing us from asking for and accessing help for mental health issues. The program will also identify tools to cope and to thrive while developing and enhancing skills to identify and address individual needs.

Elimination of Bias

The primary focus of this program is to understand and demonstrate how implicit bias discussions in the legal profession must include mental health (including substance use) and stress issues.  This program will begin with a general understanding of the concept of implicit bias and discuss how implicit bias stands in the way of lawyers seeking the help they need for mental health and stress issues.  While it’s hard for anyone to ask for help, there is a double stigma for those already in underrepresented groups.  This program will address the challenges faced by lawyers, judges, and law students when asking for help for mental health issues. It will also address the relationship between mental health issues and diversity and inclusion. The program includes a discussion of strategies to overcome these issues.

Standard Credit

In early 2020, the Minnesota legal profession was upended by the arrival of the global COVID-19 pandemic. In the ensuing weeks and months, the profession experienced seismic changes in the practice of law. This program examines the effects of those changes on lawyers, judges, and law students while providing tips and strategies to navigate the ever-changing legal landscape.

Elimination of Bias.

In the past few decades, advances in medical imaging have provided the medical and psychiatric fields with an improved understand of the effects of addictive substances on the human brain. This program reviews key findings and discusses how these new insights can lead us to better understanding of addiction as a disease, better treatment options, and perhaps even better outcomes in legal proceedings.

Elimination of Bias

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.

1-2 hr Elimination of Bias.

In the best of circumstances, the practice of law is stressful. In addition to the higher levels of stress legal professions endure, we are often exposed to traumatic events and situations of varying intensity. Both stress and trauma exact physical, emotional, and mental tolls on our well-being. This program examines the effects of chronic and acute stress, the four types of trauma, and the role that bias and stigma play in our ability to manage our well-being effectively through challenging times.

Elimination of Bias or Ethics

Lawyers often see clients who appear to be suffering from substance misuse, addiction, or other impairments.  While it is not our job to diagnose, what is our role, responsibility, and opportunity? How do our biases govern our actions and behaviors?  What if the issue is not with a client but with a colleague?  The answers are seldom simple.  This program will provide an ethical framework for lawyers facing these questions in addition to practical guidance and resources.

Standard credit

Stress among lawyers has characteristics which are unique to the profession. In addition to offering an understanding of the continuum where unresolved chronic stress becomes a predictor for substance use problems and mental illness (which are also more prevalent among lawyers), this program will provide realistic tools, techniques, and strategies for effective stress management. Personal examples and information on Minnesota’s lawyer assistance program will also be provided.

Elimination of Bias

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 that can arise if impairment is present and will offer a protocol to encourage someone to get help.

General, Ethics or Elimination of Bias Credit

The program can be customized to discuss specific initiatives, stakeholder groups, or in other ways.  It is available in lecture format with audience participation or as a group presentation.

This groundbreaking and comprehensive report, released in August 2017, was created by a coalition of entities from the American Bar Association and throughout the profession.  It contains 44 recommendations for 7 groups of stake holders along with a plan for action.

The coalition stated, “We are at a crossroads. To maintain public confidence in the profession, to meet the need for innovation in how we deliver legal services, to increase access to justice, and to reduce the level of toxicity that has allowed mental health and substance use disorders to fester among our colleagues, we have to act now.”

The report’s recommendations focus on five central themes:

• Identifying stakeholders and the role each can play in reducing the level of toxicity in the legal profession
• Eliminating the stigma associated with help-seeking behaviors
• Emphasizing that well-being is an indispensable part of a lawyer’s duty of competence
• Educating lawyers, judges, and law students on lawyer well-being issues
• Taking small, incremental steps to change how law is practiced and how lawyers are regulated to instill greater well-being in the profession

This report was followed by additional initiatives and research to support the reduction of stigma and the growth of well-being in our profession, and these will also be addressed in the program.

Elimination of Bias or Ethics

This program is based on the February 2016 article of the same name published in the Journal of Addiction Medicine.  The presentation will include the study findings on substance use and mental health issues.  Barriers to seeking help and recommendations are offered in a discussion format.

Elimination of Bias

Gambling is normative behavior in many adults. Approximately 3% of gamblers will experience problems. Compulsive, problem or pathological gambling is often called the “hidden illness” because there are few outward signs and symptoms like those that may be present with substance use disorders. The biases that keep someone from seeking help for a gambling problem can also be greater.  Colleagues, families, and friends of problem gamblers are often shocked when they learn about a problem and how serious it has become.  Often this comes up in the context of a legal matter.  Lawyers and their clients are both affected by gambling addiction. Learn about problem gambling, how to recognize the signs and symptoms, what you can do, and what resources, including treatment, are available.

Ethics

For lawyers, missing deadlines and failing to communicate or complete projects may be the tip of the iceberg when it comes to excessive stress and addiction and mental health issues. Those same issues and others may be present in clients.  When a client is impaired, the lawyer has both obligations and opportunities. There are obligations when the lawyer is impaired, too, but fortunately, there is also help available.  This program looks at professional responsibility aspects of impairment from both the client and lawyer perspective.

Professional Development

Lawyers are in the only profession where members regularly deal with traumatized clients but seldom talk about the effect that trauma can have on them. This program will discuss types of trauma, the impact of others’ trauma, our risks, and what to watch for. Participants will learn self-care techniques that will lessen the impact of our exposure to trauma and help us to develop resilience. Information on resources available to all Minnesota lawyers is provided.

Standard Credit

This program reviews the lawyer impairment and well-being reports. It explores proven elements of resilience and offers examples and methods for incorporating them into our work as lawyers.

Elimination of Bias

Attorneys frequently work with clients who have experienced trauma and working with these individuals can cause vicarious trauma for the lawyer. We also bring our own experiences to our work. This presentation will discuss what practitioners need to understand about trauma in clients and themselves, and the special stigma that accompanies trauma. Topics include:

• Understanding trauma and the potential for disability
• Recognizing and addressing trauma in clients
• The elephant in the room – the overwhelming effect of a polarized political and social environment
• How do we keep doing the work we love in the face of these challenges
• Recognizing and addressing secondary and vicarious trauma in ourselves
• How stigma prevents us from offering and receiving help
• Ethical considerations
• Resources for lawyers and their clients

Standard credit

Life and work during the COVID pandemic have been challenging for many people, including legal professionals. These challenges are multifaceted and at times seemingly unrelenting. While a post-COVID world may seem distant right now, current circumstances give rise to unique stressors. We’ll offer perspectives and tools for coping.

LCL can work with organizations to develop customized programs. In addition to those described above, some recent programs include:

• Addiction and Substance Use topics
  • Pain Medications
  • Synthetic Drugs
  • Addiction and Family Systems
  • Sexual Compulsivity
• Mental Health topics
  • Depression, Bipolar Disorder, and Anxiety
  • Demystifying ADHD
  • Compassion Fatigue
  • Returning to Work after Treatment
  • Parity Legislation
  • Understanding Eating Disorders
  • Understanding Mental Health Diagnoses
• Wellness and Stress Management topics
  • Rising Above your Stress
  • Building Resilience
  • Thriving in the Practice of Law
  • Holiday Stress Management
  • Embracing Change
  • Mental Health Maintenance in the Legal Workplace
  • Your Law Practice Wellness Program
  • Understanding Stress in the Legal Profession: Proven Strategies for Mitigation and Management
  • 5 Common Causes of Solo Small Firm Crisis and How to Overcome Them