Many important and proactive steps are being taken — particularly in the areas of mindfulness and wellness — by law schools, law firms, and professional organizations such as the ABA and various Law Societies in Canada to help ensure that lawyers are able to successfully navigate what is admittedly a stressful professional environment. In addition to supporting those initiatives, we should consider how we could bring more focus and attention to the stories and voices of those in the profession who have successfully navigated the path to professional satisfaction (and managed to overcome the pitfalls along the way).
A positive attitude is a great start to building a more productive workplace, and you should encourage your team to develop ways to bolster individual and group happiness.
Jenner & Block’s Courtney Carter, 2022-23 NALP Vice President of DEI, explains what diversity professionals do and how you can best work with them in honor of Global Diversity Awareness Month during October.
Fortunately, confidence is coachable. We have the opportunity to rethink how confidence is identified and developed. Not as a fixed trait – but as a skill that, like legal expertise, can be nurtured over time. Confidence isn’t about being fearless. It’s about moving forward, in spite of fear.
NALP Webinar: Psychodrama and Sociodrama: Using These Tools to Support Law Student Well-Being
M. Teresa Schmiedeler and Steve Grumm discuss methods for helping law students build resilience in uncertain times.
President Elect, Alison Ashe-Card, reminds us that Thanksgiving is a season, not just a holiday, and a time “to cherish moments spent with loved ones, appreciate the blessings we have, and share our abundance with those in need.”
Executive functioning (EF) is gaining increasing attention in professional development spaces, especially in efforts to better support neurodivergent lawyers. EF refers to a set of cognitive processes that are essential for effective planning, adapting to challenges, and achieving goals.
Epstein Becker Green’s Karl C. Riehl, 2022-23 NALP President, offers tips for promoting well-being across legal teams and organizations as 2022 draws to a close.
For Health Wellbeing Solutions’ Marla Warner and Clear Concept Inc. President Ann Gomez share tips for NALP members to help improve well-being at law firms and legal organizations.
Jon Krop shares simple, powerful tactics to protect yourself from digital distraction, addiction, and overwhelm.
2024 Lawyer Perfectionism and Well-Being Survey, a joint research project of Krill Strategies, JC Coaching & Consulting, and Ambitionprofile, in collaboration with NALP
With October 10 being World Mental Health Day, and the ABA having recently moved their observance of Law Student and Lawyer Mental Health Day to October 10 as well, this seems like a good time to share my experiences with a keynote speaker whose message might help each of us recalibrate our wellness levels as we recover from the recent recruiting cycle and prepare for the approaching holiday season.
Methods for dealing with the imposter phenomenon or imposter syndrome, including understanding your coping mechanisms, how you respond to failure, starting the conversation and putting yourself out there.
NALP President Beth Moeller of UCLA School of Law explains how to provide greater transparency when uncertainty reigns.
The results of the Lawyer Perfectionism & Well-Being Survey, an exploratory effort to document perfectionism’s impact on lawyers, paint a stark picture. Lawyers with high perfectionistic tendencies –those who equate mistakes with personal failure – reported stress levels twice as high as their less perfection-driven peers
Mental Performance Coach Jayne Rossworn explains how legal careers advisors can use concepts that help athletes bounce back from injury to help law students thrive after job search setbacks.
Georgetown University Law Center’s Rob Cacace and Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP’s Jennifer Kraemer Gewertz review Daisy Dowling’s Workparent: The Complete Guide to Succeeding on the Job, Staying True to Yourself, and Raising Happy Kids.
Northwestern Pritzker School of Law’s Candace Bergeron shares tips on partnering with law student organizations to promote wellness and well-being.
Southwestern Law School’s Jody Stein outlines steps for how legal career advisors should respond, in both words and actions, when a law student reports experiencing discrimination at a non-profit organization.
NALP President Traci Mundy Jenkins of Venable LLP offers tips for improving your well-being in a constantly changing environment, including the COVID-19 pandemic, social and political uncertainty, and natural disasters.
Fox Rothschild’s Jessica Mullen explains why being assertive over your wellness is crucial to surviving the current work climate.
Energetically Efficient Kristin Rowell explains how excess sugar intake can influence your physical and mental well-being.
For this holiday season, the author explores ways to de-emphasize alcohol for social connection. Whether it’s a conference reception, firm holiday party, or your own gathering, she suggests ways to normalize not-drinking for both well-being and belonging.
This article stresses the importance of having a strategy to identify, establish, and enforce boundaries to help newer professionals launch long and meaningful careers.
The Well-Being Section is a community for NALP members who have an interest in or responsibility for the well-being of law students and lawyers.
The 2017 Report from the National Task Force on Lawyer Well-Being as well as cultural shifts in the legal profession have prompted law firms and legal employers to commit to well-being initiatives. The issue is how to create an impactful and effective program. At the NALP/ALI CLE Professional Development Institute (PDI) in December, we heard confusion among participants about how to create buy-in, how to handle the realities of practice that are leading to increased stress and anxiety among associates, how to address mental health, how to handle alcohol at events, and much more. While this article can’t provide all of the answers, we hope to ...
For too many law students, self-care — particularly involving mental health issues — can become an isolating struggle. As public interest career counselors, we can help to end the silence about mental health challenges by beginning to adopt an intentional plan of addressing law student concerns. In many of our own communities, we can already see hopeful changes, such as efforts to foster dialogue, raise awareness, and provide support and services that help students gain better access to counseling, medical treatment, and other means of maintaining mental wellness.
In order to achieve a transformation in well-being, the legal profession should embrace three core principles of listening to your body, honoring and processing your emotions, and measuring success by metrics other than “winning” as a primary goal.
NALP’s Board, Committees, Sections, and Interest Groups are working to help members respond to the impacts of the global COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.
Wake Forest University School of Law’s Alison Ashe-Card, University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law’s Molly Stafford, and Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law’s Nicole Netkin-Collins close out the final installment of their six-part series on dismantling racism in the legal profession with more questions than answers.
EsquireWell’s Kendra Brodin experts Catherine Duncan and Henry Emmons offer tips for incorporating neuroscience into creating programs for lawyers and other professionals who work for legal organizations.
Kohi Richardson writes about her personal experience with speaking openly about her mental health and some of the positive effects that followed.
In its latest Law Firm Flexibility Benchmarking Study, the Diversity & Flexibility Alliance examines how firms are supporting their people across flexibility, caregiving, and well-being. The 2025 findings reflect on responses from a cross-section of law firms providing insight into how flexibility policies are structured, implemented, and sustained, and where progress has been meaningful, and where gaps continue to limit impact.
University of Oregon School of Law’s Rebecca Ivanoff describes her perspective on NALP’s next 20 years as a relative newcomer to the legal profession, as part of NALP’s 50th Anniversary celebrations in 2021.
Venable’s Traci Mundy Jenkins recaps the 2021 Annual Education Conference, which was held virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic and featured a plenary with Haben Girma, the first deafblind graduate of Harvard Law School.
Columbia Law School’s Michael Kerman and Julie Anna Alvarez Rivera offer tips on how to start and expand well-being and mindfulness programs at law schools.
Although it is not typically our role to assist students in addressing ongoing stress, substance abuse issues, or mental health conditions such as anxiety and depression, as career advisors we do encounter students whose well-being is impacted by these challenges. For purposes of this article, I will refer to such students as “at-risk students” because they are at risk of not performing to the best of their ability academically and are more likely to experience difficulties in the course of their professional development.
Everyone is finding new ways to cope with anxiety, fear, and loneliness from the COVID-19 global pandemic. NALP President Beth Moeller shares a series of “bright spots” that have helped her stay positive and productive.
Wake Forest University School of Law’s Alison Ashe-Card, University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law’s Molly Stafford, and University of Colorado Law School’s Nicole Netkin-Collins examine the role of well-being in dismantling racism in the legal profession.
Lane Powell PC’s Melissa Berry reviews the book The Law Student’s Guide to Doing Well and Being Well by Shailini Jandial George.
One in four lawyers has been bullied at work in the past year, according to a recent report on workplace bullying published at the Illinois Supreme Court Commission on Professionalism. This article looks at ways that we can create legal workplaces where everyone is treated with civility, dignity, and respect.
Over the years, I've tested dozens of anxiety-busting techniques on myself and the legal professionals I train. These three actually deliver: a physical approach, a mindfulness technique, and a cognitive strategy. Each takes less than two minutes. Each can stop anxiety in its tracks.
Understanding the Power Tools of Stress Reduction Webinar, June 9, 2020
NALP President Beth Moeller from UCLA Law describes the adaptability and resiliency of law students in 2020, particularly new students facing a different process due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Chapman and Cutler’s Shannon Burke recaps the lessons learned from the Institute for Well-Being in Law’s 2021 Well-Being Week in Law (WWIL), which took place May 3-7.
EsquireWell Founder and CEO Kendra Brodin defines compassion fatigue and gives legal professionals in law schools and firms strategies to improve their emotional, physical, and occupational well-being in their recruiting and professional development roles.
The conventional wisdom is that lawyers are unhappy with their work. It is certainly true that the legal profession is not particularly known for its attention to well-being and personal growth. The profession is notorious for long hours and hard and often tedious work. Lawyers are also expected to be available to clients at all times. This article explores the sources of dissatisfaction, research from the fields of positive psychology and positive organizational behavior that addresses how to shift the workplace experience, and some real-time suggestions to implement strengths-based strategies in law firms.
COVID-19 will impact future lawyers and associates from Generation Z socially, economically and professionally as the world seeks to recover from the pandemic.
This article addresses how legal professionals, who often deal with complex problems, challenging situations, and high stakes, can integrate the principles of positive psychology to enhance resilience, improve mental health, and foster a more supportive workplace culture.
Establishing trust among team members is key, as it creates a collaborative atmosphere that encourages high performance. This article details the elements of trust to encourage an environment where people can do their best work.
NALP Director of Public Service Initiatives Sam Halpert reviews Sarah Jaffe’s 2021 book, Work Won’t Love You Back.
Check-ins, reflection exercises, mentorship, coaching, and assessments are among the tools available to help with professional identity formation.
Embracing difficulties in life, prioritizing, tackling assignments one by one and celebrating each achievement are methods to increase resilience.
Helping students navigating well-being and mental health issues during crisis situations such as the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.
Freda Coleman-Jackson describes how legal career advisors can use the IRAC method to help ease law students’ anxiety around the job search process.
The law profession must aim to reduce the stigma around stress, anxiety, and mental illness. Being open about these issues can facilitate connection, reduce social isolation, and promote diversity, equity, and inclusivity.
This article explores the current state of mental health among early-career lawyers and offers actionable steps for law schools and legal organizations to address these pressing issues.
University of Ottawa’s Staci Angelis explores the effects of burnout and stress on lawyers and professionals in the legal field.
EsquireWell Founder and CEO Kendra Brodin explains how legal professionals can manage digital distractions using six methods.
NALP Webinar: The Anxiety Toolkit presented November 18, 2020
Establishing a foundation of well-being early in your career not only helps you navigate the present, but it also builds confidence and resilience that will carry you forward for years to come.
Do you assist law students or lawyers with mental health challenges? The National Council for Behavioral Health’s Mental Health First Aid training can help.
Preferences for employer outreach following the global COVID-19 outbreak, including the potential impact on in-person vs. Zoom or video meetings.
NALP Executive Director James G. Leipold reviews some of the trends that emerged in 2020 following the COVID-19 outbreak in March, including virtual work environments, struggles to fight racial inequality, and changes to OCI.
Men have typically been socialized with limited roles that direct men to be a provider and protector and to often suppress feelings especially emotions such as fear or sadness. The author writes it’s time to support men to develop the skills and mindsets that will help them and everyone around them to create healthier, more effective law firms.
NALP President Alison Ashe-Card's May column explains the word Unbuntu, which comes from the Bantu languages, particularly in Southern Africa, and means “humanity to others.” It can be loosely translated as ‘I am what I am because of who we all are.’ This simple idea captures a powerful philosophy – a way of life based on love, connection, humanity, unity, and optimism.
EsquireWell’s Kendra Brodin and DueCourse and Aspire’s Kelli Dunaway explain the importance of emotional intelligence when giving and receiving feedback.
Summarizing the key takeaways from the three plenary sessions at the 2022 NALP Annual Education Conference in New Orleans featuring The Yellow House author Sarah M. Broom, former NFL football player Steve Gleason, Thine CEO Sang Lee, and Diversity & Flexibility Alliance President and CEO Manar Morales.
Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP’s Terrene Burke describes the importance of a Wellness Action Plan for legal professionals and how to create one specific to your needs.
Fogler, Rubinoff LLP’s Myriah Graves and Clear Concept Inc.’s Ann Gomez outline the top issues that are concerning hybrid legal teams, including well-being, retention, in-person bias, and team connections.
NALP Executive Director James G. Leipold says farewell to members following more than 18 years serving as the association’s chief executive.
University of California Irvine School of Law’s Chelsea-Leigh Flucus, the 2021-22 NALP PSJD Fellow, offers observations on continuing the conversation about the positives from remote and hybrid work flexibility.
From the moment we start working in our positions in law schools or law firms, sleep often becomes a casualty. Kendra Brodin and Dr. Jagdeep Bijwadia provide strategies to prioritize and improve our sleep and our well-being.
The end of the year provides the opportunity for reflection and appreciation. This article outlines seven questions to guide you in contemplation of what you lived, learned, and loved, and what lies ahead.
Well-Being Circle: Unpacking Perfectionism & Cultivating Self-Compassion
The well-being movement has introduced new language into our everyday vocabulary and a growing awareness that our words have power, both positive and negative.
Asking yourself a series of questions can help determine whether you should increase your time spent on things that allow you to refocus and recharge.
NALP’s Executive Director reflects on the impacts of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic on the association’s membership, Board of Directors, and staff — as well as at home on a personal level.
Tips from two PD professionals at McDermott, Will & Henry on mental health initiatives at law firms and the importance of asking the “Wellness Question.”
Quoting from Eddie S. Glaude’s Begin Again, NALP Executive Director James G. Leipold examines how the story of greater quality in the legal profession doesn’t match up with the data on employment outcomes for white people against Black people and people of color.
NALP President Beth Moeller explains how the Danish practice of hygge helps promote well-being for law students and lawyers as 2020 turns to 2021.
NALP President Beth Moeller reflects on her year as head of the association as its member celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the organization’s 1971 founding in 2021.
EsquireWell Founder and CEO Kendra Brodin defines emotional resilience and gives legal professionals in law schools and firms strategies to improve their emotional, physical, and occupational well-being in their recruiting and professional development roles.
Through the intentional reframing of our words and the embrace of empowered choices, we can reclaim control over our time and also reshape our mindset to help achieve work-life balance.
Achieving work/life balance can be elusive but you can decide how to align your approach to work with your personal values and priorities.
Many firms and legal organizations participate in Well-Being Week in Law (WWIL) the first week of May each year, but do you ever wonder what other organizations are doing for WWIL and what’s working (or not working)?
Growing concerns about behavioral health challenges and substance abuse in the legal profession have driven many law firms to adopt a more strategic approach to prioritizing the health and well-being of their lawyers and staff.
As legal support professionals, whether in professional development, coaching, or recruiting, we need to talk openly about the changes junior lawyers will face. When we are honest about these changes, we can also discuss strategies to combat the negative side effects.
This article outlines several activities to quickly boost mood and reduce stress. Try them out when meeting with a frazzled student or lawyer, or if your to-do list starts to feel overwhelming. A five-minute investment in yourself is worth it every time.
Finnegan’s Johnna Story and Optia Consulting’s Jessie Spressart explain the growing relevance of Mental Health First Aid training and certification at law firms.
As many of us have experienced firsthand, issues and concerns of addiction and mental health often manifest during students’ meetings with their career advisor. As a result, career advisors can be in one of the best positions to help identify students who are struggling with mental health or substance use issues, especially since students are typically hesitant to seek help from a dean of students. At a minimum, by adding another group of professionals who can engage our law students, we can increase the likelihood that our students will seek the help they need. With this in mind, below are several ways that those in career services can partn...
As career counselors, we believe the most challenging group of students we work with are those still seeking post-JD job opportunities in their final year of law school. These students are often suffering from job search fatigue or burnout, which can manifest itself in various ways, including denial, anxiety, low self-esteem, and physical and emotional exhaustion. The steps outlined below can help motivate and reenergize these students by shifting their focus away from what they can’t control and toward what they can.
Law student and lawyer well-being, including mental health and substance abuse issues, has been the subject of many recent initiatives and articles, ranging from the Report of the National Task Force on Lawyer Well-Being to the resulting ABA Well-Being Pledge to a heart-wrenching article written by the widow of a young lawyer who took his own life, possibly due in part to the stress and rigors of life in the legal profession. In preparing for her term as NALP President, Melissa Lennon decided that well-being needed to be firmly rooted in her business plan. One result was the creation of the Lawyer and Law Student Well-Being Task Force, led by...
Fringe Professional Development Coach and Trainer Katie Aldrich offers steps for talent management professionals to protect their emotional well-being.
NALP President Beth Moeller of UCLA Law offers key takeaways learned from a challenging 2020, with many lawyers and law students working remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic.
NALP Executive Director James G. Leipold explains how declaring email bankruptcy and other radical acts of self-care can help bring a fresh attitude to the challenges that lay ahead in 2021 following a year beset by a global pandemic.
NALP President Beth Moeller highlights some of the amazing accomplishments of NALP volunteers since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020.
NALP President Rebecca Calman writes about taking time to reflect both at work and at home. She cites several examples and adds, “If you’re like me, you may find that occasionally slowing down can help you make better decisions, build trust, and improve communication with colleagues, family, and friends.”
What should we communicate to new associates when law firms are inherently stressful places? Advice I wished I would have received when I started practicing law: make your well-being a priority.
For one year, at the University of Hawai'i at Manoa, William S. Richardson School of Law: first year students practiced a two-minute grounding exercise, or “micro-meditation,” at the start of their weekly professionalism in practice class. The goal was to help students take a brief pause, quiet their minds, and reduce the anxiety that often comes with the pressures of law school.
New NALP Executive Director Nikia L. Gray outlines her high-level plans to keep the association laser-focused on facts, fairness, and the power of a diverse community.
The benefits of a financial well-being program to a law firm include a better workplace culture and improvements to the bottom line.
NALP President Beth Moeller of UCLA School of Law reflects on the importance of continuing to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts in 2020.
University of Akron School of Law’s Alecia Bencze explains how using the strengths of their personal interests can help career services professionals achieve more in their work roles.
NALP Executive Director James Leipold explains how an accidental wine spill at the start of NALP’s 50th Anniversary Celebration during the 2021 Annual Education Conference led to a lesson on stress management, well-being, and learning to let go.
Want to learn more about the well-being movement that is fundamentally changing the legal profession? Ogletree Deakins’ Erin McClernon explores the lessons learned from the 2021 Well-Being Week in Law, which takes place annually in May.
I was surprised by how awkward it felt to utter those three little words ("I Don't Drink") to business colleagues, particularly to anyone that works in the legal industry. Our dirty little secret (though thankfully no longer that big of a secret) is that a frighteningly-high percentage of attorneys struggle with alcohol or substance abuse disorders. A
Tips for career services staff to help students lead a healthy life and promote well-being and self-advocacy.
Just like a “sneaky chef” mixes the good-for-you veggies into a meal to ensure finicky eaters get their necessary nutrition, embedding well-being practices into your current initiatives is a useful strategy for professionals collectively and individually.
As more generations join the workforce, it is important to consider how shared cultural experiences and life stages impact the prioritization of different aspects of wellness. The four standard generational waves in the workforce today are Boomers, Gen X, Millennials, and Gen Z who hold varying perspectives on wellness.
What happens when we cannot distinguish between criticism of ideas, and criticism of self? Between judgment of work product or performance, and judgment of one’s self-worth? More broadly, how do we create the conditions for well-being within the profession when we must also uphold high standards of critical rigor? Self-compassion offers a path across this tightrope.
NALP President Alison Ashe-Card writes about the value of summer that lies in its invitation to pause, reflect, and live more intentionally. It’s a season that reminds us to make space for joy, rest, and connection — essential elements in a balanced and meaningful life.
NALP Executive Director James G. Leipold underscores the importance of legal employers and law schools striving to create environments where most people can feel that they belong.
McGrath Talent Strategies President Irena McGrath reviews the Ida Abbott book, Retirement by Design: A Guided Workbook for Creating a Happy and Purposeful Future.
