Being a lawyer can be stressful and taxing, even in the best of times, and the result can have severe and detrimental impacts on an attorney's well-being. There are many efforts to address this growing concern, including Lawyer Assistance Programs and initiatives such as the creation of Attorney Well-Being Week. Some states require attorneys to enroll in wellness-related continuing legal education courses in categories such as substance abuse and mental health. Most other states will accredit wellness programs as ethics credits.
Combating the epidemic of attorney fatigue requires structural change at law firms and other legal workplaces, and in the justice system writ large. For individual attorneys, however, there are skills you can learn to manage stress on an everyday basis. If you’re looking for some new strategies to manage and care for your own mental health, check out one of Lawline’s top twenty Attorney Wellness CLE programs, designed to be practical, enjoyable, and most importantly, to help you deal with the daily struggles every lawyer is familiar with:
While practicing law can be stressful, an attorney's mindset plays a crucial role in how they manage the pressure and its impact on their mental health. This course helps you learn how to view stress as helpful instead of harmful. You will also discover ways to use stress to your advantage while minimizing its adverse health effects.
Many attorneys are unaware of the effect that their emotional health has on their professional lives. This interactive program delves into the layers of physical, social, and emotional energy behaviors and their impact. Discover how to identify specific self-care techniques that alleviate stress and increase resiliency.
This course sheds light on the sources of stress and trauma in the legal profession and the clients it serves. Learn various methods for managing compassion fatigue, developing a trauma-informed practice, and improving organizational health.
This interactive program shows you how to perform a self-assessment of your physical, social, and emotional needs and unique energy behaviors. You will learn to identify when you are experiencing stress in any of these areas and the self-care steps that can help you manage it.
This program explores how to use the Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) tool to promote wellness. You will learn how the brain processes stress and how it appears in the human body.
In this refreshingly honest and empowering course, three co-founders of the Lawyers Depression Project (Joseph Milowic, David Evan Markus, and Reid Murtaugh) explore the power of connection, the benefits of peer support among legal professionals, and the multitude of resources available to legal professionals experiencing mental health challenges.
Many attorneys may be struggling with adapting to life post-pandemic, returning to in-person work, and more. Barbara Zabawa explores how starting your own practice might provide benefits to those seeking more control over their professional life, and ultimately improve your mental and physical well-being.
As we move forward from the pandemic, lawyers must learn to cultivate self-care to better serve their clients. This course helps attorneys learn to become resilient so that they will not just survive but thrive in the practice of law and all domains of life. Taught by Cedric Ashley - an experienced attorney, leadership coach, author, trainer, and facilitator - attorneys will walk away with practical tools for managing chronic stress through realistic case studies that will bring these concepts to life.
This program, presented by LiLing Poh of Reed Smith LLP and Mindfulness and Leadership Coach Kim Nicol, offers leaders within legal organizations effective strategies to reduce the risk of malpractice, increase team sustainability and resilience, lead with grace, and learn how to manage through the stress, anxiety, and burnout that are so prevalent within the legal profession.
Mental health and substance use disorders can affect any attorney, in any setting, and at any time. Left untreated, they can destroy careers and lives. This program, taught by Tracy Kepler, the Risk Control Director for CNA's Lawyers Insurance Program, examines the nexus between ethical competence and attorney well-being and outlines preventative measures firms and organizations can take to protect clients and minimize risk around attorney well-being issues. It also educates attendees on how to recognize the impaired attorney, how to approach the conversation with a colleague, and how to effectively discuss the possible disciplinary and professional liability implications of an impaired attorney's conduct.
At Lawline, we aim to help you take charge of your professional and personal growth by providing timely, relevant CLE courses covering a broad range of pertinent topics.
Interested in more Attorney Wellness content? Check it out here.
Last updated on August 16, 2023
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