Don't Silence the Alarm: Learning to Work with Anxiety in Law

DESCRIPTION: Lawyers are trained to anticipate risks, identify problems, and prepare for worst-case scenarios. While these skills are essential to effective advocacy, they can also contribute to chronic stress, overthinking, and anxiety. Attorneys are more vulnerable to depression, anxiety, and substance abuse, than nearly any other profession, making this a pressing issue for the profession as a whole. When it isn’t addressed, untreated anxiety can impact an attorney’s ability to do their job correctly, resulting in bar complaints. Yet, anxiety is a natural human response that can provide valuable information, which savvy lawyers can use to their advantage in assessing their mental health and ability to serve clients well. This CLE explores anxiety through a more nuanced lens, examining the relationship between unmanaged anxiety, lawyer well-being, and ethical competence, and highlighting the importance of maintaining personal wellness to support effective professional judgment and client service. Participants will learn to explain the purpose of anxiety and distinguish between productive concern and unhelpful anxiety-driven thinking; identify common anxiety patterns among lawyers, including catastrophizing, perfectionism, over-responsibility, and avoidance; and recognize warning signs in themselves and colleagues, from sleep disruption and irritability to avoidance of tasks and difficulty disconnecting from work. How the rules of professional conduct can be implicated, such as Rules 1.1 (competence), 1.3 (diligence), 1.4 (communication), 1.16 (declining or terminating representation), and 8.3 (misconduct), is also discussed. For accreditation information, check your Bar website or our list: https://www.clecast.net/accreditation. You will watch a video, be provided materials, and then fill out a certificate of completion should your state require that. Access to this CLE is available for 365 days following your purchase.