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How Mindfulness Can Help You Avoid Legal Burnout, Continue to Competently Perform Legal Services, and Remain Ethically Compliant
As attorneys, chronic stress is often a part of our job. If we do not effectively manage chronic stress, however, it has the potential to cripple our productivity levels. Chronic stress can also make it physically, mentally, and emotionally impossible to advocate for our clients and communicate with them effectively and competently. Further, we run the risk of violating the rules of professional conduct, such as Rules 1.1, 1.3, and 1.4, which we will discuss during this webinar.
Instituting even one or two minutes of meditation and mindfulness into our daily routines can have immediate and far-reaching benefits in our professional and personal lives. Become your best self now. Join us as we demystify meditation and focus on the basics of mindfulness: what it is and is not, how to do it, and how to maximize its benefits.
We will delve into specific methods of integrating mindfulness into your day-to-day law practice. According to Professor Peter H. Huang of University of Colorado Law School, “Law students, lawyers, and law professors should try practicing mindfulness to see if they improve their legal decision-making, ethics and leadership.”
You will be empowered to:
• Protect yourself from burnout
• Improve focus and boost your overall productivity and efficiency
• Curb anxiety and stress through quick, effective “spot treatments”
• Use mindfulness to enhance ethical and reflective decision-making as opposed to acting rashly and later feeling regret for poorly chosen words and actions
You will learn how mindfulness can improve civility in the profession:
• What is mindfulness?
• Scientific basis
• Discussion of professionalism and civility guidelines and principles
• How integrating mindfulness into the legal setting can improve civility in the profession.
You will learn how mindfulness helps you stay ethically compliant:
• Mindfulness as a means to improve productivity, focus, and concentration in order to represent a client competently, diligently, and communicate with them promptly.
• Discussion of MRPC 1.1 and 1.3 (Diligence), ethical opinions, and caselaw
• Elements of Mindful Communication will teach you how to better understand your client’s objectives and keep your client reasonably informed so they can make informed decisions.
• Discussion of MRPC 1.4 (Communications), ethical opinions, and caselaw
• When we are faced with the daily pressures of a law practice, our decision-making may become clouded. This can lead to ethical disaster, as well as to self-destructive behavior such as substance abuse.
• This segment focuses on how a mindfulness practice can alleviate stress and anxiety so you can prevent legal burnout and remain ethically compliant.
Cynthia Sharp, Esq., Director of Attorney Development, The Sharper Lawyer
Veteran Attorney Cynthia Sharp works with motivated lawyers seeking to build sustainable law practices. After building and selling her boutique firm which she ran for over a quarter of a century, she embarked on a professional speaking and consulting career. For the past 10 years, she has dedicated herself to sharing practice building strategies and processes with solo and small firm attorneys throughout North America. In recognition of her contributions to the profession, the ABA GPSolo Division named her Trainer of the Year.
As Director of Attorney Development, Cindy has established an international presence as an author and speaker on the topics of law firm branding and marketing strategies. She also shares practice management techniques with an emphasis on ethical implications - lecturing extensively to law firms, bar associations and other legal organizations.
She can be reached via email at cindy@thesharperlawyer.com.
Becky Howlett, Esq, Legal Burnout Solution
Becky Howlett is an attorney, consultant, and educator dedicated to facilitating positive relationships with others and ourselves. After graduating from KU Law cum laude with a Tribal Lawyers Certificate in 2014, Becky focused her career on Indian Country advocacy, developing an expertise in federal Indian law and policy and tribal law. After experiencing burnout early on in her legal career, Becky felt compelled to do an in-depth study of meditation techniques and share these practices with others. In spring 2020, she co-founded legalburnout.com with the mission of empowering others to effectively manage their stress by promoting mindfulness practices in the legal field.
