Law Student Mental Health Week
October 4 – 10, 2021
ABA Seminars
Just Ask: How We Must Stop Minding Our Own Business in the Legal World: Depression and Suicide Prevention Essentials
Monday, October 4. 12:00 p.m. Cost: Free for Law Students and ABA Members; Non-members $130. Register here.
Attorneys and Judges handle a litany of legal problems and stressors every day. These stressors begin in law school and continue throughout practice- brought about by long hours and the pressures of handling all the matters that come along with being part of the legal profession. The evidence is clear that attorneys need to focus more on their personal well-being. The ABA is hosting this essential program in the week leading up to World Mental Health Day to draw attention to the prevalence of depression and suicide in our profession and identify concrete steps that we can each take to help save lives.
Join moderator Chris Ritter, Director of the Texas Lawyers Assistance Program, and panelist Meridith Carpenter-Black, Managing Attorney for Black & Associates Legal Group, Licensed Professional Counselor Supervisor and Licensed Child Placing Agency Administrator in Texas. The program will feature a powerful video highlighting the stories of lawyers speaking of their own experience with suicide. The esteemed panel will also guide a discussion of practical strategies for intervening with colleagues and loved ones. Just knowing how to ask about depression and suicide can lend a helping hand to someone in need. World Mental Health Day is an opportunity to commit to our own well-being and improving the well-being of our profession.
Protecting Well-Being in Law School and in the Transition to Law Practice
Thursday, October 7. 3:00 p.m. Cost: Free for All Registrants. Register here.
Each year the ABA Law Student Division and the ABA COLAP Law School Committee partner on the National Mental Health Day Program. This initiative is intended to spotlight the critical importance of our own well-being, and specific strategies to protect our well-being in law school and in the transition to the real world of law practice. Join us for a conversation with national thought leaders on law student well-being and the impact of the pandemic on law schools and the legal profession going forward. We expect law students and law schools coast to coast to join us for this timely discussion…more relevant and critical this year than ever!
Moderator
- Lannette Richardson, Chair, ABA Law Student Division
Speakers
- Dr. Katherine Bender, Assistant Professor, Bridgewater State University
- Laura Farber, Partner, Hahn & Hahn LLP and Co-Chair, ABA Coordinating Group on Practice Forward
- Roberta Liebenberg, Senior Partner, Fine, Kaplan and Black
LCL September CLE Programs
Lawyer Well-Being:
Surviving & Thriving in Challenging Times
Tuesday, September 28, 4:00 – 5:00. Via Zoom. Register here.
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. 1-hour standard credit (applied for). Advance registration is required; register here.
Advance Notice of Upcoming CLEs & Events
We’ve had several requests from lawyers to provide email notifications of upcoming CLEs. So many, in fact, that we’ve developed a monthly email specifically for the purpose of letting people know what CLEs and events are planned, when they are scheduled, and registration information.
If you want to get on the mailing list, just provide the following information. You’ll receive an email from Vertical Response, the service we use, asking you to confirm your email address. You can cancel at any time by clicking on the “Unsubscribe” link contained in each newsletter.
Suicide Prevention: Every Lawyer’s Opportunity
What are the signs and what can I say? This article will provide some guidance on reducing our risk. Additional resources are available here.
Just Ask: How We Must Stop Minding Our Own Business in the Legal World is a powerful suicide prevention video created by the Texas Lawyer Assistance program with the assistance of the Pennsylvania LAP. You may access the video and other suicide prevention resources here.
We recognize that content like this can be triggering for some. The video begins with a warning and offers support and encouragement to reach out to others.
LCL CONNECTION GROUPS
LCL offers two check-in and support opportunities each week via Zoom videoconferencing. Click LCL Resources and Connections September for more information and joining instructions.
- The Path to Well-Being Group, Thursdays, 12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m.
- Lawyers in Transition: Career Challenges and Change, Mondays, 4:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.
September Newsletters
- Sand Creek EAP Frontline Employee Newsletter
- Sand Creek EAP Frontline Supervisor Newsletter
- Sand Creek EAP Hot Topic: Breathing Techniques to Help You Relax
Wellness Resources
Sand Creek EAP provides numerous resources covering a wide range of topics on its website. You can set up your own free account and access them on your own schedule. Click here to visit their site. Click the “Member Portal & App” button to sign in or create your new account. When creating your account, use “lawyers” as the Company Access Code.
Live Webinar
Unpacking the Backpack
Thursday, September 23, 11:00 – 11:45 a.m.
You see your child leave for school with their backpack and the teachers see them walk into the building with one. But do you know what they bring to school each day? Yes, they carry their lunch, books, school supplies, and athletic gear but they also carry their fears, family struggles, mental health diagnosis, and more. What happens at home walks onto the bus, into the building, sits in the lunchroom, and enters the playing field. Today, we are going to unpack what our kids are carrying with them, especially with the start of full in-person learning, and what we as parents/caregivers can do to help lighten their load.
Register here. Please list your organization as Lawyers Concerned for Lawyers.
RECOVERY SUPPORT MEETINGS
LCL has a long history of supporting recovery through many avenues, although our roots are in the 12 Step tradition. While these listed groups are not “official” LCL groups, LCL does provide space and technological support for these weekly Recovery Support meetings.
Mondays, except holidays, at 12:15 p.m. via phone temporarily. This meeting follows the traditional 12 Steps framework. Call 651-646-5590 or 866-525-6466 or email us for information.
Please click here for other meeting links.
THANK YOU!
Many thanks to all sponsors and attendees of LCL’s 2021 Stepping Up Celebration of LCL’s 45 years of providing help & hope to the legal profession. Special thanks to the Honorable Donovan Frank for emceeing the event and to ABA President Patricia Refo for her inspirational keynote address.
View Sponsors and Supporters here.
ABA Comprehensive Report on Judicial Stress
the ABA released a comprehensive report in the 2020 Journal of The Professional Lawyer which “survey[ed] more than 1,000 judges across the United States suggests job stress has become a serious health concern in the state judicial ranks, with about one-third or more reporting fatigue and low energy, sleep disturbance or disturbed attention and concentration.”
“The report, Stress and Resiliency in the U.S. Judiciary, is considered the most comprehensive review of well-being of its kind for the judicial ranks and builds on an ABA 2016 study of lawyer well-being and a separate law student well-being study that same year.” (View Source on ABA Website)
The report is co-authored by LCL Executive Director Joan Bibelhausen.
Mindfulness, the Breath, and Well-Being
We are juggling multiple demands, we are facing, or helping clients who are facing trauma, and we are working and living in challenging times. Attention to the breath, a key to mindfulness practices, has taken on new meaning since the death of George Floyd. This article discusses the importance of in-the-moment awareness to our well-being.
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