This Year's Sponsors
Approved for 4.5 CLE hours (3 Professional Well-being [PWB]/1.5 Ethics). The cost for this year’s conference is $25 per person, to offset lunch costs, paid in advance via EventBrite (with a small processing fee). Once registered, you will receive an email notification confirming your reservation. The location has free parking.
Cancellations must be received by email to delia@nclap.org or robynn@nclap.org by 5:00 on Friday, February 21, 2025, in order to be eligible for a refund. Cancellations received after that date (including no-shows on the day of the event) cannot be refunded.
We look forward to seeing you this year.
Agenda
8:30-9:45
Registration Check-In and Coffee
9:45-10:00
Welcoming Remarks – Syrena Williams, LAP Volunteer and Takiya Lewis Blalock, LAP Board Chair
10:00-11:15
Navigating Workplaces with Professionalism while Prioritizing Personal Well-being – Deja Kemp and Melissa Woods (1 hour PWB; .25 Ethics)
The ABA Taskforce Report on Lawyer Well-being observed and acknowledged that in today’s legal landscape, navigating toxic work environments is an unfortunate reality for many legal professionals. This training is designed to equip lawyers with essential skills and strategies to identify, prevent, and effectively manage toxic workplace dynamics. Participants will gain valuable insights into recognizing the signs of toxicity, maintaining professionalism while prioritizing personal well-being amidst challenging circumstances, and implementing practical techniques to mitigate the negative impact on their careers and mental health. This training will also discuss the practical implications of anti-discrimination laws. From establishing boundaries to exploring exit strategies, this workshop empowers lawyers to safeguard their professional integrity and thrive in their work environments. Join us to learn how to navigate the complexities of toxic workplaces with confidence and resilience.
11:15-11:30
Break
11:30-12:30
Prioritizing Personal Well-being Panel – Natasha Robinson, Evin Grant, Jocelyn Mitnaul Mallette, Tiqeece Brown, Stephanie Robinson (1 hour PWB)
Given the landscape of the profession explored in the previous session, this panel will discuss how they have personally navigated this terrain.
12:30-1:45
Lunch
1:45-2:30
Insight into the Grievance Process – Leanor Hodge and Evin Grant (.75 Ethics)
Most attorneys know very little about the grievance process of the State Bar. In this session, a former State Bar prosecutor and an elected State Bar Councilor who currently serves on the grievance committee will pull back the curtain to answer your questions. They will explore and explain the grievance process and the most common, easily avoidable issues. Lawyers often make their jobs their identities, so a complaint about problematic behavior is often taken as a personal assault. The speakers will discuss helpful and unhelpful reactions and responses to the process.
2:30-4:00
When the Going Gets Tough: Improving Mental Health and Avoiding Burnout as a Legal Professional – Dr. Marsha Brown (1 hour PWB; .5 Ethics)
Working within the legal field is inherently stressful. Within large legal organizations, multiple players come together to navigate the court system and meet inflexible deadlines within a highly adversarial arena. Both in and outside of court, legal professionals are often tasked with anticipating and solving team problems and managing challenging personalities, while simultaneously producing desired outcomes. To succeed in this high-stress field, professionals often focus their time and energy on meeting the demands of the job, to the detriment of their mental health and well-being. A lack of differentiation between professional and personal identities can also exacerbate these stressors. This combination of stressors often results in declining productivity, reduced employee engagement, and interpersonal office conflict. Because of this, legal professionals can find themselves feeling the far-reaching psychological, emotional, and physical impacts of working within the legal arena. The clinical term for this phenomenon is burnout. Burnout can have lasting effects and dramatically decrease one’s ability to work effectively and connect with those they work with and serve. It can not only affect mental, physical, and emotional health, but it also impacts office environment, job satisfaction, staff turnover, team productivity, and organizational health.
This program is designed to teach legal professionals to recognize burnout, overwhelm, and deteriorating mental health, as well as take proactive steps to prevent and/or mitigate their impacts. Participants will also learn ways to prioritize their own mental wellness and take steps to replenish their psychological, emotional, and physical stores to avoid burnout.
4:00
Reception and networking