Alta Pro is pleased to announce that Colleen L. Byers – a noted lawyer, mediator, well-being instructor and professional development coach – will be the guest speaker at our Third Annual Lawyer Wellness CLE Webinar.

Colleen is a seasoned business, trust, estate and fiduciary litigator and founding principal of Colleen Byers Mediation, LLC, a national mediation practice that focuses on complex partnership disputes and multi-generational family business issues. She is triple certified by the North Carolina Dispute Resolution Commission. In 2020 she was honored by NC Lawyers Weekly as a Lawyer of the Year.

The December 7 CLE webinar – You’re Not Broken: The Neuroscience of Lawyer Well-being – will highlight key Rules of Professional Conduct and best practices for personal and professional well-being. It will take a deep dive into the 2017 ABA Task Force on Lawyer Well-Being, with an emphasis on practical ways to implement the report’s findings in your professional practice.

Plus you’ll have a chance to ask Colleen – who is a sought-after facilitator of corporate retreats and lecturer on mindfulness – your specific questions about staying safe, healthy and happy in your law practice.

Register here for You’re Not Broken: The Neuroscience of Lawyer Well-being.

Want to make 2023 your healthiest and most prosperous year ever? Join us on Wednesday, December 7 at 12 noon CT for our Third Annual Lawyer Wellness CLE webinar. This year’s program, “You’re Not Broken: The Neuroscience of Lawyer Well-being,” will use evidence-based research to help boost your personal and professional well-being and enter the new year with renewed enthusiasm. The presenter is Colleen Byers, JD, a seasoned litigator, mediator, legal educator, certified yoga instructor, and 2020 North Carolina Lawyer of the Year. Colleen will show you how to work with neurobiology rather than against it, how to make “Emergency Landings” in stressful situations, and how to avoid “amygdala hijack.” This free, one-hour webinar will help you manage end-of-year holiday stress. And you’ll obtain 2022 CLE credit without leaving your desk! Register here.

You’re Not Broken: The Neuroscience of Lawyer Well-Being

Here is an overview of the December 7 webinar:

Well-being is a part of a lawyer’s duty of competence (RPC 1.1).
(1) Overview of 2017 ABA National Task Force on Lawyer Well-Being
(2) Defining lawyer well-being: “A continuous process in which lawyers strive for full-spectrum health: Occupational, Intellectual, Spiritual, Physical, Social, and Emotional.”
(3) ABA Well-Being Toolkit
(4) ABA Well-Being Pledge

How understanding science can improve lawyer well-being.
“The answer is not to create emotional barriers but to accept that our work changes us.”
(Dr. Kerry O’Hara, Psy.D.)

(1) The Reality of Vicarious Trauma a/k/a Secondary Trauma a/k/a Compassion Fatigue in the legal profession. Definition: A response to an accumulation of exposure to the pain of others; a trauma process that occurs over time when an individual is exposed indirectly to the suffering of others for whom they feel responsible. Witnessing the suffering of others can lead to existential struggles and changes in our world view.
(2) Amygdala hijack: What is it? How do we know? What are the effects?
(3) Working with rather than against neurobiology

Practical tools for improving the health of your law practice.
(1) Emergency Landing Exercise. (Grounding techniques: hands; feet; breath)
(2) Gratitude Practice
(3) Mindfulness Practice (“The ability to know what’s happening in your head at any given moment without getting carried away by it.”).
(4) How to prioritize self-care: (a) Set a SMART goal; (b) Buddy system; (c) Accountability partner; (d) schedule it on your calendar like all the other important items on your calendar
(5) The importance of maintaining healthy personal and professional relationships.

Know when and where to go for help.
(1) National, State and Local resources; (2) Lawyer Assistance Programs; (3) BarCARES programs; (4) Professional Liability Insurance Risk Management resources; (5) ABA resources

Do you practice in Wisconsin, Texas, Minnesota, Ohio, Illinois, Indiana or Michigan? Is your professional liability coverage managed through Alta Pro? If so, you’re automatically a member of the Alta Pro Risk Purchasing Group (RPG), which offers a wealth of benefits for your practice: free, cutting-edge CLE webinars featuring top experts tackling timely topics; the Pro Practice Playbook; the Pro Practice Blog; Reminger’s ProLink risk management assistance; Reminger’s Claim Repair Hotline; discounts on CLIO practice management software; tax savings on health insurance; and access to the Risk Pro, who can help keep your firm safe and successful. Register here and start enjoying your Alta Pro RPG benefits.