Clifford Law Offices will be hosting its 15th annual free Continuing Legal Education webinar on Thursday, February 17, 2022.
2:30-3:30 pm CT: Wellness Program
3:30-4:30 pm CT: Diversity & Inclusion Program
Presented by: Clifford Law Offices
Moderator:
Robert A. Clifford
Founder and Senior Partner, Clifford Law Offices
Wellness Program:
Mind, Body & Soul: Defining Well-Being in Law
Since the National Task Force on Lawyer Well-Being issued its Report & Recommendations in 2017, there has been much progress. However, a culture shift around well-being and sustained innovation still faces certain challenges. To be a good lawyer, law student or judge, one has to be well. To achieve well-being, we have to engage in a continuous process in which we “strive to thrive” in each of the following dimensions of our lives: emotional, intellectual, occupational, physical, spiritual and social.
Our panelists will discuss what constitutes well-being in each of these six components, provide some best practices that everyone can employ in their own lives and in their work or school setting, and consider where we have been and the challenges we face as we move forward on this front.
Speakers:
Erin Clifford, Partner, Clifford Law Offices and Founder/CEO of Erin Clifford Wellness
Brian Cuban, Lawyer and Author of “The Addicted Lawyer”
Tracy Kepler, CNA Risk Control Director, Adjunct Law Professor and former Director of the ABA Center for Professional Responsibility
Judge David Shaheed (retired), Associate Professor at Indiana University School of Public and Environmental Affairs
MCLE Information: The Illinois Supreme Court Commission on Professionalism approved the substance of Mind, Body & Soul: Defining Well-Being in Law for 1.00 hours professional responsibility credit (Mental Health and Substance Abuse).
The Missouri Bar has approved the Wellness course for 1.2 hours of ethics credit.
The program, Mind, Body & Soul: Defining Well-Being in Law, has been accredited for 1.00 hour in ethics by the State Bar of Texas.
Diversity & Inclusion Program:
Mind, Body & Soul of Diverse Lawyers: The Weathering Effect
It is coming to light that lawyers of diversity can be impacted by “the weathering effect.” This concept will be discussed in the context as to how one’s experiences and reactions as a lawyer in a diverse community are different because of one’s race, gender, ethnicity, disability, socioeconomic status and other diverse factors. The weathering effect can create an erosion of professional, mental, emotional, physical and spiritual health from unconscious bias and the daily microaggressions that one of diversity is forced to endure. This can impact the way one responds to certain situations and can ultimately impact one’s outlook, health or longevity in the profession. It can make one more vulnerable or more callous in certain situations, more so and more sensitized than those who are not considered part of a minority community. It can create mental blocks. The concept of intersectionality – members of the profession falling into more than one identity group – and the toll it takes on those in figuring out how to react given the situation and the group into which one falls also can be exhausting.
This highly experienced panel will openly discuss their experiences and beliefs in what is happening in this arena and will offer suggestions as to how everyone can become more aware in order to improve the health of the profession.
Speakers:
Lea Gutierrez, DEI Director at Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office
Leslie Davis, CEO, National Association of Minority & Women Owner Law Firms (NAMWOLF)
Lindsey Draper, Former Milwaukee County Assistant District Attorney, Assistant Public Defender and Ret. Judicial Court Commissioner primarily with the Children’s Court and the current Vice President of DEI for the Institute of Well-Being in Law.
MCLE Information: The Illinois Supreme Court Commission on Professionalism approved the substance of Mind, Body & Soul of Diverse Lawyers: The Weathering Effect for 1.00 hours professional responsibility credit (Diversity and Inclusion).
The Missouri Bar has approved 1.2 total hours, including 1.2 ethics hours and 1.2 elimination of bias hours.
The program, Mind, Body & Soul of Diverse Lawyers: The Weathering Effect, has been accredited for 1.00 hour in ethics by the State Bar of Texas.