“Lawyer-Moms Who Think Their Life Is Too Messy For Mindfulness Should Read This”
Author: Robert Albury
Fall 2020
SAVE THE DATE!
2021 WVJLAP Conference & Retreat
Please join us for the Annual WVJLAP Conference & Retreat May 14th – May 16th, 2021 at Stonewall Resort. We hope that all board members, participants, volunteers, and members of the bench and bar who support WVJLAPs mission will attend.
*** The Retreat will offer an opportunity for CLE credits, as well as training for WVJLAP Volunteers.
Employers Address Covid-19 Concerns:
In stressful times, this surprising lesson from neuroscience may help to lessen your anxieties:
Wellbeing & The Judicial Assistance Initiative:
Listen to this podcast: Judge David Shaheed discusses the path to well-being
Summer 2020
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Lawyer Well-Being Week
Participation across the legal profession is essential for making Lawyer Well-Being
a top priority! Well-being in the profession was never more important than
right now in the wake of a global pandemic.
This Guide gives day-by-day recommendations to assist members of the legal profession in improving their well-being.
Remember, in order to effectively care for the well-being of others, we must first take care of our own well-being!
MONDAY, May 4th STAY STRONG (Physical Well-Being)
ARTICLE: Manage Your Energy Not Your Time
VIDEO: The Brain-Changing Benefits of Exercise
TUESDAY, May 5th ALIGN (Spiritual Well-Being)
ARTICLE: Judges’ Well-Being and the Importance of Meaningful Work The article explains the importance of meaningful work to health, happiness, and performance. It provides
meaningful work strategies that apply to everyone, not just judges.
VIDEO:
WEDNESDAY, May 6th ENGAGE & GROW (Career & Intellectual W-B)
ARTICLE: 3 Science-Backed Reasons Having a Hobby Will Help Your Career
VIDEO:
THURSDAY, May 7th CONNECT (Social Well-Being)
ARTICLE: To Be Happier at Work, Invests More in Your Relationships
VIDEO: WVU College of Law: Defining Success During the COVID-19 Pandemic
FRIDAY, May 8th FEEL WELL (Emotional Well-Being)
ARTICLE:
Well-Being Strategies for Solos and Small Firms: Building Resilient Work Cultures
VIDEO:
Spring 2020
LapQuest 
Check out this article by Anne M. Brafford, Esq, published by the National Task Force on Lawyer Well-Being, on how solo practitioner’s and small firms can promote lawyer mental health.
Well-Being Strategies for Solos and Small Firms: Building Resilient Work Cultures
Understanding the Stress Response
Now, more than ever, it is important for the legal community to learn how to effectively manage stress. Check out this article, published by Harvard Health Publishing, on understanding the stress response, as well as techniques to counter chronic stress.
TED TALK: The Brain-Changing Benefits of Exercise
To Find Meaning in Your Work, Change How You Think About It
Check out this link, published by Harvard Business Review, on finding purpose in your work life.
The Happy Secret to Better Work
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Winter 2020
LapQuest
Enduring Happiness for Attorneys?
David Gold, a former trial lawyer who now helps law firms grow their practices discusses how your law firms culture holds the key to your own piece of mind.
Check out this link, published by Social Work Today, on Internet Addiction Disorder.
“Together we can bring out the best in the legal profession!”
Law Student Well-Being Podcast
For too long, law students have been given the message that their well-being is second to the practice of law. Not anymore! The Lawyer Assistance Program community recognizes that teaching students about their own well-being and the well-being of their colleagues and friends as they learn the law is imperative for the future generations of lawyers.
Fall 2019
LapQuest
The Perfect Addict
From childhood to adulthood, this attorney suffered with the disease of addiction. With the implementation of a 12-step program and admitting that he was powerless over his substance abuse issue, he was able to develop a better way of living. He stayed focused, worked hard, and asked for a second chance from other legal professionals. Today this attorney is successful with his employment, and most importantly is also living happy joyous and free.
ABA Anti-Stigma Campaign
Stigma, shame, and fear. These obstacles frequently play a major role in an individual’s decision not to seek help when suffering from mental health and substance use disorders. Too often, lawyers, judges, and law students find themselves wrestling privately with frustration and despair as an addiction or mental health problem dominates their life and threatens their career. To raise awareness about the nature of addiction and mental health distress in our profession and to challenge the biases and stigma that surround those problems, the ABA’s Commission on Lawyers Assistance Programs (CoLAP) created a profession-wide anti-stigma campaign that will feature a series of videos highlighting the personal recovery stories of lawyers, judges, and law students who have overcome these issues. These videos send the message that recovery from addiction and mental health problems is entirely possible for legal professionals. Our goal is to ensure that fewer of our colleagues face these challenges alone.
Emotional Sobriety by Bill Wilson
Bill Wilson, co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous wrote about emotional sobriety in a letter he sent to a depressed friend in 1956. This letter was eventually published in The Grapevine in 1958 titled “Emotional Sobriety: The Next Frontier.”
Law Firm/Organization Impairment Policy
In 2019, the Policy Committee of the ABA Commission on Lawyer Assistance Programs (CoLAP) and the ABA Working Group to Advance Well-Being in the Legal Profession developed this template to provide suggested guidelines to legal employers for responding to an employee who is experiencing impairment due to a substance use disorder, mental health disorder or cognitive impairment.