LCL Provides Educational Programs to the Legal Profession
Lawyers Concerned for Lawyers will present continuing legal education, law school presentations, and other programs upon request. LCL or the hosting organization may sponsor the program. Many of our programs qualify for Elimination of Bias or Ethics credits. Contact the Executive Director or the Outreach Coordinator to discuss or arrange a CLE program. LCL may request an honorarium for in-house programs.
Public Service Announcements (PSA)
LCL welcomes the opportunity to make public service announcements about our services and resources as part of other programs. We have appeared in many programs sponsored by others. LCL can deliver a focused PSA live or as a recording.
Law School Presentations
All of LCL’s CLE programs can be adapted to law schools.
LCL has developed a class presentation specifically for Professional Responsibility courses. This presentation addresses stress, mental illness, and addiction in the Rules of Professional Responsibility context while providing opportunities for discussion. LCL can provide a full class session, a shorter program, or a PSA.
LCL-SPONSORED-CLE-HISTORY December 2022
Available CLE Programs
Please note, some programs are listed under more than one credit type because LCL presenters will tailor the program according to the requested credit type(s).
Most programs are one hour long; the length of some programs will vary based on the host organization’s request. For example, a 90-minute program might include 60 minutes of EOB credit and 30 minutes of standard credit to cover stigma reduction and building resilience.
Don’t see what you’re looking for? Contact us about custom programs!
Elimination of Bias Credit
Mental Health, Well-Being, and Implicit Bias in a Post-COVID Environment (1 hr)
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. As the profession adjusts to rapidly changing circumstances, those quick decisions we must make may be based on implicit biases and assumptions. The pandemic has affected people differently. For some, it exacerbated an underlying health or addiction issue, for others, a new problem developed. For many in our profession, stigma continues to prevent them from seeking the help they need. This program will address the profession’s changing landscape, explore the effects of implicit bias and stigma, and offer perspectives and coping tools.
Understanding Stress, Trauma, Addiction, and Bias in the Legal Profession (1 hr OR 2hr)
Lawyers face stress daily and are subject to circumstances that can lead to higher stress levels than 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. This program will present signs, symptoms, risk factors, and recovery regarding these problems. The presenter will also provide personal examples and information on Minnesota’s lawyer assistance program.
Help for Colleagues in Crisis: Recognizing and Responding to Impairment and Other Challenges in the Legal Profession (1 hr) [LCL tailors to requested credit type]
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.
Interrupting Bias While Surviving & Thriving in Challenging Times (1 hr)
The legal profession is at risk for high stress levels and mental health challenges in the best of times. 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 cause 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 thrive while developing and enhancing skills to identify and address individual needs.
Implicit Bias in the Legal Profession: Mental Health and Double Stigma (1 hr)
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, stress, and well-being. 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.
Suicide Awareness and Prevention (1 hr)
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.
Surviving & Thriving in Challenging Times: Bias & Trauma (1 – 2 hr)
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.
When Your Client is Impaired (1 – 2 hr) [LCL tailors to requested credit type]
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.
Mental Health and Addiction Issues in Older Adults (1 – 2 hr)
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.
The Path to Lawyer Well-Being: Practical Recommendations for Positive Change (1 – 2 hr) [LCL tailors to requested credit type]
LCL can customize the program to discuss specific initiatives, stakeholder groups, or 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 stakeholders along with an action plan.
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
LCL dedicates our efforts to disseminate the report on The Path to Lawyer Well-Being to the memory of David Brink, ABA President 1981-82 and past member of the LCL Board of Directors.
The Prevalence of Substance Use and Other Mental Health Concerns Among American Attorneys (1 hr) [LCL tailors to requested credit type]
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.
Problem Gambling and the Legal Profession (1 – 2 hr)
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 few outward signs and symptoms are present as 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.
Keeping it Real: The Trauma-Informed Legal Professional (1 hr)
Attorneys frequently work with clients who have experienced trauma, and this exposure may cause vicarious trauma for the lawyer. We also bring our own experiences, which may include trauma, to our work. This presentation will help legal professionals recognize and address trauma in clients and themselves. Topics also include the role of stigma and bias, understanding trauma and the potential for disability, recognizing and addressing trauma in clients, and the impact of current events.
Ethics Credit
Clients in Crisis (1 hr)
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.
Help for Colleagues in Crisis: Recognizing and Responding to Impairment and Other Challenges in the Legal Profession (1 hr) [LCL tailors to requested credit type]
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.
When Your Client is Impaired (1 – 2 hr) [LCL tailors to requested credit type]
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.
The Path to Lawyer Well-Being: Practical Recommendations for Positive Change (1 – 2 hr) [LCL tailors to requested credit type]
LCL can customize the program to discuss specific initiatives, stakeholder groups, or 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 stakeholders along with an action plan.
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
LCL dedicates our efforts to disseminate the report on The Path to Lawyer Well-Being to the memory of David Brink, ABA President 1981-82 and past member of the LCL Board of Directors.
The Prevalence of Substance Use and Other Mental Health Concerns Among American Attorneys (1 hr) [LCL tailors to requested credit type]
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.
Stress, Addiction, and Mental Health: An Ethical Perspective (1 – 2 hr)
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, but fortunately, there is also help available. This program looks at professional responsibility aspects of impairment from both the client and lawyer perspective.
Ethics, Mental Health and Well-Being in a Post-COVID Environment
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 discuss the ethical implications of the current state of affairs while also offering perspectives and tools for coping.
Standard Credit
Lawyer Well-Being: Surviving & Thriving in Challenging Times (1 hr)
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.
Chronic Stress, Mental Health, and Addiction (1 hr)
Stress among lawyers has characteristics that are unique to the profession. In addition to understanding 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. The presenter will also provide personal examples and information on Minnesota’s lawyer assistance program.
The Path to Lawyer Well-Being: Practical Recommendations for Positive Change (1 – 2 hr) [LCL tailors to requested credit type]
LCL can customize the program to discuss specific initiatives, stakeholder groups, or 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 stakeholders along with an action plan.
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
LCL dedicates our efforts to disseminate the report on The Path to Lawyer Well-Being to the memory of David Brink, ABA President 1981-82 and past member of the LCL Board of Directors.
Getting Your Bounce Back: Using Resiliency to Build Your Fitness to Practice (1 hr)
This program reviews the lawyers’ impairment and well-being reports. It 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.
Mental Health, Well-Being and Resilience in a Post-COVID Environment (1 hr)
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.
Vicarious Trauma, Empathy Fatigue, and Self-Care in the Legal Profession (1 hr)
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 our exposure to trauma and help us develop resilience. Information on resources available to all Minnesota lawyers is provided.
Note: This program can be combined with an elimination of bias program to form a 90-minute presentation eligible for 1 hour EOB plus 1/2 hour Standard credits.
Resilience in the Face of Uncertainty (1 hr)
The future has always been uncertain. Typically, we’ve navigated our lives through the uncertainty without giving it too much thought. The pandemic and other recent events have raised our awareness of uncertainty and our stress levels. This program discusses a set of resilience skills legal professionals can use to manage adversity and uncertainty in their lives.