Podcast appearances and mentions of tish vincent

On the last episode of our The Life of a Lawyer Start to Finish series, we discussed Retirement with Ida Abbott. In this episode, we move on to the final rung of the ladder: The Aging Lawyer: Exiting Gracefully.   Host Craig Williams is joined by Tish Vincent, LMSW, Esq., Chair of the ABA Commission on Lawyers Assistance Programs, as they spotlight the aging lawyer. Craig & Tish discuss senior lawyers, possible warning signs of cognitive decline to look out for if a co-worker is suffering, how to approach, and where to go for help if you or a colleague are experiencing warning signs.

On the last episode of our The Life of a Lawyer Start to Finish series, we discussed Retirement with Ida Abbott. In this episode, we move on to the final rung of the ladder: The Aging Lawyer: Exiting Gracefully.   Host Craig Williams is joined by Tish Vincent, LMSW, Esq., Chair of the ABA Commission on Lawyers Assistance Programs, as they spotlight the aging lawyer. Craig & Tish discuss senior lawyers, possible warning signs of cognitive decline to look out for if a co-worker is suffering, how to approach, and where to go for help if you or a colleague are experiencing warning signs.

Transcript: CHRIS NEWBOLD: Hello, well-being friends and welcome to the Path to Well-Being in Law podcast, an initiative of the Institute for Well-Being in Law. I'm your co-host, Chris Newbold, Executive Vice President of ALPS Malpractice Insurance. Most of you are listeners. For those of you who are new to the podcast, our goal is pretty simple. It's to introduce you to thought leaders doing meaningful work in the well-being space within the legal profession and in the process to build and nurture a national network of well-being advocates intent on creating a culture shift within the profession. I want to introduce my co-host, Bree Buchanan. Bree, how have you been doing? BREE BUCHANAN: Wonderful, Chris. Great to be here. How are you? CHRIS: Bree, I think I heard that you had just come off some vacation doing some bicycling in my neck of the woods. Tell us a little bit more about where you went and why. BREE: Yeah. So I got to go with a group of friends out over to your neck of the woods in Montana, the Trail of the Hiawatha and the Trail of the Coeur d'Alenes and got to get some cycling in, which was just really wonderful. CHRIS: Awesome, awesome. Glad to hear you get off the grid and that's such an important part. My vacation is next week where I'll be with my family on a lake, just relaxing, and we all know that, that's an important part of recharging and being our best selves. BREE: Absolutely. CHRIS: Yeah, so we are again, super excited for today's podcast. We are wrapping up a three-part series looking at the interconnection of well-being in law schools. We have had Linda Sugin from Fordham Law School, we have had Jennifer Leonard from Penn Law, and today we are so excited to welcome Janet Stearns from the Miami School of Law. Bree, I know that you have a personal relationship with Janet, a friendship. I would love it if you could introduce Janet to our listeners. BREE: Absolutely. I'm delighted that we've got Janet here today. I'll give you the official introduction to Janet, but from a personal standpoint, Janet and I have been sort of on the front lines of working in this area, gosh, Janet, I don't know, six, seven years starting back with the ABA's Commission on Lawyer's Assistance Programs. Janet has been a true leader in that space. So let me give you the full introduction, and then we'll go ahead and hear more from Janet. BREE: Janet Stearns is the Dean of Students and a lecturer in law at the University of Miami Law School. Has been there since October 1999. In 2007, she was appointed Dean of Students. Since 2011, she's regularly taught professional responsibility. Last year, she received NALSAP's CORE Four Annual Award recognizing the competencies, values and ethics of the very best law student affairs professionals, and I absolutely agree with that. She is the immediate past chair for the AALS Student Services Section, and as I know her, a member of ABA CoLAP, and not only an advocate for wellness programming in the law schools, but has also been the Chair of the Law School Committee and has led all of those efforts for, I'd say at least five years. Since she became the Dean of Students, she has been passionate about wellness initiatives there at Miami, including the Fall Wellness Week, Spring Mental Health Day, and a weekly Dean of Students constitutional walk around the campus. Finally, I'm proud to say that she won the CoLAP Meritorious Service Award in November 2020. So Janet, so glad to have you here. How are you doing today? JANET STEARNS: Well, Bree, that's such a generous introduction. So I'm blushing a little now, but I am delighted to be here with you and Chris and looking forward to chatting. BREE: Great. So Janet, because I know you, and I know how dedicated you are to this, I think that you've probably got a really good answer to this question that we ask all of our guests because we know that people that are committed to the well-being movement often have a real passion for the work. So what experiences in your life are the drivers behind your passion for being such a leader in the well-being movement in law? JANET: Well, Bree, I think I've often, for a long time been really interested in my own personal well-being. As I think back on my own experience in law school, a classmate of mine, we decided to decaffeinate together in law school. Not many people do that, but we did. We went off coffee cold turkey and really just recognized it made us less jittery and that we could actually feel better and be more present for what was happening around us. I tell students that's just one example of how we can actually use the law school experience to think about our own well-being. JANET: But I think that certainly my work here at the University of Miami has brought me into a space where I have had to work and counsel way too many students who have been struggling. Struggling with drugs and alcohol and suicide. JANET: I have spoken many times about a student of ours, Katie Corlett, who died just shortly after her graduation, really, I think about the week before the bar results came out. In a time, many of us can remember and relate to of incredible and stress, and she died of a drug overdose, and it had a huge impact on me because I had worked so hard with her to get her through law school. I had gotten to know her parents so well, and the time that we spent shortly after the overdose visiting her in the hospital and just thinking of the huge opportunity that was lost for her and for us. That has stayed with me. I often do say, as I talk to other law schools about our programming and our more institutional initiatives, we do not want to have any more Katies. BREE: Right. JANET: We want to do everything possible so that we can see our students graduate and be happy and not have any more Katies. BREE: Yeah, absolutely. Wow. That's powerful. CHRIS: Yeah. I mean, as the Dean of Students, you certainly get a window into some of those challenges. Janet, tell us a little bit about ... We're all creatures of our own experience and we all recall our own law school days ... Give us a little flavor of Miami Law. The location and the size, the focus, anything that you find particularly unique about the culture that you've worked to build at Miami Law. JANET: Okay, Chris. Well, Miami Law, we are actually in Coral Gables. We are not in Miami. But Coral Gables is a suburb of Miami, and the University of Miami Law School has typically been on the larger side of law schools. This year we're probably going to be welcoming just under 400 students, 1L new students to our law school, but we have about 1,300 students. So we have JD students, and we also have a very large population of LLM students in many different programs, but our international LLM is bringing students from all over the world with a particularly large focus on Latin America. So it is a school where we have a lot of international diversity. Miami is just a very, at its nature, multilingual community, but there is a lot of Spanish that is spoken and Portuguese and other languages. JANET: We have a lot of first-generation students, Chris, and working families, first-generation students from our community. As we know, Miami has been all over the news for various reasons. But it is certainly a very dynamic community with a lot of temptations, cultural temptations, drug, alcohol, late-night partying. Miami Beach goes around the clock. It's against that backdrop that we are trying to encourage people to really both focus on their studies and focus on their well-being. BREE: Yeah. So over the time ... You've been at Miami Law a little bit over 20 years ... What are some of the mental health and well-being issues you've seen your students face? I mean, certainly Katie that you talked about is the worst case scenario, but just from my experience, I imagine you've seen a lot of other things that don't lead up to such a tragic end. JANET: Right. Well, Bree, I do think that Miami is a community where there is a lot of opportunity to focus on well-being, the good and the bad, as I said. There are, I think a lot of stresses and temptations, but I think there also are a lot of an incredible amount of natural beauty here. Beaches and opportunities to get into the outdoors and enjoy the tropical climate, the Everglades when people take advantage of that. We really work hard to model that for our students. JANET: I think that we have gone through certainly over time, our students face a lot of challenges. I do think that being in such an active and vibrant place and such a, from my perspective, a city that never sleeps, we have to work really, really, really hard from the beginning of orientation to try to model limits. Limits on your time, learning how to say no, learning the value of sleeping, learning the value of focus. The fact is that you're not going to be at every single event or movie or social or networking opportunity. There's just too much. So I think learning how to set limits from the very beginning is actually one of the things I talk about in our orientation message. JANET: I do think another well-being issue and one we were just discussing some, it is an expensive city. There is a lot of opportunities to go out and spend a lot of money. There's a lot of variation in housing that's expensive. So we have to work very early to try to help people to understand their financial budget and how to plan for their law school years in a way that will make sense and leave them where they still can feel in control as they graduate and move into the legal profession. So financial literacy is another important aspect of well-being and one that we try to also talk to our students about from the very beginning. BREE: Yeah. I'm glad you brought that up because that's not something that we really talked about. There's the six dimensions of well-being, but that financial piece of it, that financial dimension, can be such a heavy burden for the students. Sure. JANET: Right. Right. Then of course, I mean, Miami Law and the whole world has had the opportunity, I would say through this pandemic, to even talk more about well-being. Right, Bree. I know that when I was sent home in March 2020, the first thing that I brought home from my office with me was I have a framed copy of The Serenity Prayer next to my desk. BREE: Right. Wonderful. JANET: In March, there were many, many calls with deans and faculty and students, "What about this? And what about this?" I just said, "We're going to say our Serenity Prayer. We are going to try to figure out what we can control here and what we cannot and how to distinguish those things." I think actually as we model that, because our students and people around us see our own process of trying to figure those things out and yet trying to stay calm and make decisions through the pandemic, I think we've really taught some valuable lessons. BREE: I think The Serenity Prayer should be standard issue with your law school diploma. JANET: Absolutely. BREE: That would be helpful. JANET: It always does the trick for me. CHRIS: Janet, I'm curious, as you think about kind of the state of well-being in your law school, has it become more challenging? Has it improved? I mean, you have the context of kind of stability and seeing it over a longer period of time, but just curious on your reflections on at least within your school what kind of trends that you're seeing as it relates to well-being. JANET: That's such a great question, Chris. I think what's interesting if we go back, I don't know ... I think when I started to work with Bree with the CoLAP but I would say we've been involved in planning ... I probably have done a Fall Wellness Week since I first became Dean of Students in 2007. I had been working with the ABA CoLAP and the ABA Law Student Division on the Mental Health Day Initiative now for, I don't know, five, six, seven years. JANET: There was a point I think when we would announce Mental Health Day and everybody would be like, "What is that? Why?" I would say in the last few years, what I'm noticing is I have a lot of people around the country, deans of students at other schools, they're like, "When are you going to announce the Mental Health Day plans? When is it coming? What's the theme this year because we're putting it on our calendars." I think people are very, very eager to talk about this right now, Chris, at some level. Of course, then we just have to reflect on the events of the last week of the Olympics. I mean, it just feels like we are truly having a national conversation, thanks to the courage of Michael Phelps and Simone Biles and others. BREE: Absolutely. JANET: We are having a national conversation, and people are eager to have this conversation with us. So there is a level of attention and focus that can only be a good thing right now for the work that we're doing. CHRIS: Yeah, for sure. Talk to us about some of the well-being initiatives at Miami Law that you're most proud of. I mean, you talked about Fall Wellness Week. Talk to our listeners about some of the things that you have initiated and instituted there that you think are actually driving results. JANET: So I do think that the Fall Wellness Week has become a great catalyst, and we try to have a very intentional conversation ... I was actually talking with some CoLAP colleagues yesterday about this, about when. When is the most effective time to raise these issues? My view has been orientation is not always the best time. I think your students are a little bit deer in headlights and it's a little bit too early, but we have been doing ... Recently we moved the National Mental Health Day to October. Now we try to program around October 10th. So for many of us, that's about six weeks into the school year, give or take. I think people are really receptive. They're starting to feel the stress. They're starting to feel some of the anxiety and self-doubt as they're trying to work their way through, and it's a really good time to come in and try to do some positive programming. JANET: We try to both do some national programming, but many schools are also using that to do school-based programming, often in partnership with the LAP in the state, everything from healthy smoothie happy hours, constitutional walks, yoga, physical fitness, and sometimes some actual conversations with thought leaders around the value of sleep as something that actually promotes your learning or the worries of study steroids. So we have used the Fall Wellness Week, I think, to maximum effect for a lot of programming. CHRIS: Do you keep that programming broader in terms of different areas of focus or do you actually look at kind of a 1L track, a 2L track, a 3L track? I'm just kind of curious on the structure of how you do that. JANET: Well, that's a great question. I would say right now the Fall Wellness Week has been broader for everybody. CHRIS: Okay. JANET: I think that we are actually starting to have some more conversations. We have been doing some 3L specific sort of pathway to the bar exam kinds of programming. I actually think there's a lot more that we can be doing in that regard. I think the ABA Law Student Division is also interested as we think about bar success and wellness. I think that there is some 3L targeted work that we have been doing, but I think that we could be doing more around that Chris, from my own perspective. JANET: But I think that point is well taken. I do think that we find by and large that if we were to hold a program either around suicide or around study steroids, or pick your topic, depression, and we just said, "Show up for a program," law students by and large are not going to show up for that program. They don't want to walk into a room and be identified and tagged as the person who's thinking about suicide. But if you can market your program, and I think we've thought hard about this, whether it has to do more broadly with mindfulness, well-being, success in law school, happiness in the profession, I think if you can market that program, you can deliver the same content, but you can get people in the room and then get the buy-in and really get much broader participation. So I feel very strongly about that. JANET: I just also wanted to highlight that I think over this last year, we have also tried to be a lot more intentional ... I'm not sure we weren't doing it before ... But about the crossover between the struggles over racial injustice that we are all experiencing, and certainly that some of our students in various affinity groups are experiencing with well-being. Last year's Mental Health Day highlighted my colleague, Rhonda Magee, who spoke about her fabulous book, The Inner Work of Racial Justice. We then had several follow-up programs that students found really, really impactful, where we were really focusing on the impact of well-being on targeted communities of color. JANET: We've had a lot of, I think, requests for some more programming targeted with our first-generation students around well-being. I think there is a huge outcry for doing more programming of this sort as we move forward. BREE: What advice do you have for others who may be working at a law school and are listening to this? Maybe they're faculty or administration and who want to enact some of their own initiatives. Do you have some advice for them? How to get it started and how to make sure it's successful? JANET: Well, Bree, I think, as you know, because you and I have talked about this a lot, I do feel that right now the vast majority of law schools in the country are doing positive things around well-being. Many want to do more. Some of us are doing it differently. Some have more resources than others to do this kind of programming. But I think there's a huge interest, and in fact, I think a demand to have well-being programming in law schools right now and to really connect this for our law students. This is one of the things I say to students all the time, "You're coming to us not only to learn about contracts and torts, you're coming to learn how to become a future professional. Some of the skills that we can teach and model for you about your personal well-being and learning to set limits and finding balance between yourself and your work, these are some of the most important skills and probably the most important skills we can teach you in law school." BREE: I think of sort of the fancy word for that, professional identity formation. Is that? JANET: We are all talking about professional identity formation. Exactly. Exactly. And this is a critical element of this. I think that the well-being community and the professional identity community have found a great partnership and shared interest. These are things that we are working together to message, and we're messaging them in all parts of the law school. We're messaging them in clinics and in externship programs. We are messaging this in all kinds of core courses, including professional responsibility. This is all a part of our shared mission right now. CHRIS: Janet, it's great to hear that. I mean, again, with your perspective. When I think of law schools and well-being, I think of you because I think that you've been kind of at the epicenter of kind of looking at what's been going on in the law school environment. It's encouraging to hear that your sense is that the vast majority of law schools have kind of leaned in on this particular subject. I'm just curious about maybe the why. Why we find ourselves in a significantly better position today than say we did 10 years ago? JANET: Well, I think first of all, I do believe as I both talk to people at Miami Law but people around the country, in fact, Chris many of us are experiencing issues or challenges around mental health and substances with our own families, with our friends. We have faculty ... In fact, I was on the phone the other day with a faculty member and she said, "My child is in the process of being hospitalized." So I think we are actually at a point where ... I have another faculty colleague ... Fabulous, very, very smart person who lost his wife to suicide. I'm coming to the world at this point. I think this it's not a Democratic issue, it's not a Republican issue. This is an issue that affects all of our families and things that we hold near and dear to us. I think people are being a little more open about that. JANET: I think as all of the work and certainly, Bree, all of the anti-stigma work that you and others have been doing for so long, I think this is seeping in, and I think people are coming forward and saying, "This affected my family. This affected my child. This affected my brother." I think faculty are also a little more willing, and I'm not saying everybody, but to be a little more vulnerable themselves with their students. I think some of this happened during the pandemic. I think there was something very equalizing about all of us being on Zoom. BREE: That's a great point. JANET: Struggling with Zoom, and I saw some faculty members, and then I heard about it from students who said, "I'm really struggling here. I haven't been able to see my parents. I'm divorced and I haven't been able to visit my child. And this really sucks right now. So I appreciate that this is really a confusing time for all of you as students and the faculty. Where it's like, "Oh my gosh, that torts professor's a real person." JANET: I view this as some of the, I like to call it the gifts of the pandemic, but I think that there were people who became a lot more real with each other. And that includes faculty members becoming a little more real with students as well. CHRIS: That's such a great observation. I've always been prone to say that we are obviously human beings before we are a law student, a lawyer, a professor, a judge. It feels like we're kind of getting more back to some of those kinds of basic levels of empathy and kind of all on the same trajectory of just kind of trying to live our best life. JANET: Right. Absolutely. CHRIS: Let's take a quick break here. We'll hear from one of our sponsors, and we'll be right back. — Advertisement: Meet Vera, your firm's virtual ethics risk assessment guide. Developed by ALPS, Vera's purpose is to help you uncover risk management blind spots, from client intake to calendaring to cybersecurity and more. Vera: “I require only your honest input to my short series of questions. I will offer you summary recommendations to provide course corrections if needed and to keep your firm on the right path.” Generous and discreet, Vera is a free and anonymous risk management guide from ALPS to help firms like yours be their best. Visit Vera at alpsinsurance.com/vera. — BREE: Welcome back everybody, and we're here with Dean Janet Stearns from the University of Miami School of Law. Janet, so one of the things that I really want to dig into with you because you sit at such a unique position of this nationally, and that is some of the policy initiatives that are occurring across the country to really try to change this circumstances for law students. I want to hear, and this is particularly in your spot as Chair of CoLAP's Law School Committee, could you tell us about some of the initiatives that you all are working on? In particular, I'm thinking about the whole character and fitness process, which has had such a detrimental impact on students' willingness to ask for help. And then also to dig into some of the changes you guys are seeking for the ABA standards. JANET: Well, thank you, Bree. I have to say, I think it has been a tremendous honor for me to be able to be involved with the American Bar Association CoLAP because you really feel the capacity to make change, to be in a room with people who are not only passionate about these issues, but who actually have some policy vision and the power to then act upon that vision. JANET: So we have been working through the CoLAP on several national projects that we think can really shift the conversation on health and well-being for students. As you mentioned, the first has to do with character and fitness. Why is this so important? Because in surveys that have been done and the preeminent survey by Jerry Organ, David Jaffe and Kate bender, looking at law student well-being, we learned the very scary high numbers of students who are experiencing depression, suicidality, substance use/abuse. We also learned that a very small percentage of those students were willing to come forward and ask for help from deans of students like myself. And the primary number one reason they told us they would not come ask for help is because they were afraid that they would have to disclose it on their bar application. JANET: So this became a huge cultural issue for us. How can we shift that culture so that people understand that when they need help, they actually indeed must ask for help, that we are here to help them, and that the bar character fitness doesn't become a barrier to that. So we have been working on trying to both evaluate what states are doing around the country and advocating for change, and specifically trying to either eliminate questions in the character and fitness process asking about mental health history or history of substance use disorders or narrowing those questions in time and scope so that people understand that their first duty is to take care of themselves and get help, and it will not stand in their way of ultimately being able to become a lawyer. JANET: We have had, I think we both, there has been, I think some policy conversations, we've been able to do some writing in this field, but as we know, in 2020, one of the great gifts of the pandemic was that early on the State of New York removed their questions relating to substance use mental health. Anything outside of conduct is no longer asked by New York. BREE: That was huge. JANET: That was huge. It was huge. So many people came together including great advocates in Massachusetts, which had been doing this for a long time that made possible the change in New York. Shortly after New York, I think in March, literally as we were moving into the pandemic, Michigan removed its questions. Again, thanks to a lot of great advocacy by Tish Vincent and others involved with the LAP in Michigan, the law schools in Michigan, and a month later, Indiana followed Michigan's suit just after the pandemic had started. JANET: The Chief Justice in Indiana, who I just think is one of ... My Ruth Bader Ginsburg I tell her ... Justice Rush, who really was so eloquent in recognizing the importance of this issue. The Supreme Court took very quick action under her leadership to remove the problematic character and fitness questions in Indiana. Then by the summer, New Hampshire also followed suit. So those were four states all in 2020. I feel like there's a great momentum there, Bree, and I continue to remain hopeful that we can continue to make progress in other states, particularly where we have some matching of an active law school community, an active bar well-being community, a judiciary, and we know that there are other State Supreme Court justices that are very, very enlightened on these issues, that we can work together to have more states implement reform in the character and fitness process. JANET: I feel strongly also where we can, if we can get either frequently asked questions or preambles, things that we can use as educational materials with students as they enter law school, as we talk about bar admission, so that they are very clearly told that this should not in any way keep you from accessing mental health or other counseling resources when you need it. BREE: Right. I mean, that's one of the things also is to include very explicit language in the introduction to the questions of the application process or somewhere, we want you to get help. That can be helpful too. I know that the Institute for Well-Being in Law is going to be joining in the policy efforts there too around trying to bring about state by state change on those character and fitness questions. So we're going to have a good group of advocates working on this around the country. BREE: I know another thing that CoLAP has been doing, and you've been a leader on really, and I can't imagine how many, maybe hundreds of hours that you've spent writing and working on this, Janet, but that is around the ABA standards for law schools. Can you talk a little bit about that? What you've been working on and the progress that's been made? JANET: Well, thank you, Bree, and this truly has been a labor of love. So the CoLAP Law School Committee, hand-in-hand with the ABA Law Student Division, has been seeking changes in the ABA accreditation rules to recognize the integral role of well-being in law schools, student services, and law school curriculum. As you know, all accredited schools are subject to the ABA accreditation standard. These standards are voted through the Council on Legal Education, through the ABA, and then ultimately approved by the House of Delegates. JANET: And so we have asked for several years for some language on well-being. We didn't get very far the first two years, but this year, I think again, another gift of the pandemic has been the incredible focus and importance of well-being. The Council in fact, did put out some draft language. It was not all that we wanted, but it did include a recognition that every law school needed to provide some well-being resources to its students, either directly or in collaboration with university resources, LAP resources, looking as well at financial well-being, emergency funds, and other essential resources that every law school must do. So the ABA Council recommended this language. We then had a large comment period. We are currently in the middle of a second comment period on proposed language. We hope to hear more in this month of August as to whether or not the package of proposals will be pushing forward by February to the House of Delegates. JANET: I will note that the package right now also has some other very significant changes on professional identity education in law schools, and it also has a large package of proposals that have to do with diversity and inclusion and core curricula requirements in law schools around diversity inclusion initiatives. There is a very rich package of proposed revisions to the standards. We are going to remain hopeful that these can get to the House of Delegates this year. But I think the fact that we finally have well-being in a draft proposal as an essential part of every accredited law school, that is institutional change, and I'm very proud of how far we've come with this so far. BREE: Absolutely. And Janet, if our listeners, if somebody wanted to dig in further and learn more about that, can they go to the ABA website or how could they learn more or track what's going on in that area? JANET: All of the proposed changes and indeed all of the comments that have been received are all on the website for the ABA Section on Legal Education, as well as the notices of ... There will be a meeting as we're recording this, we are in the week of the ABA Annual Meeting ... But my understanding is August 19th and 20th, the Section on Legal Education will meet again, we understand, to discuss next steps on these standards. Of course, if that is a problem, anybody is free to email me at the University of Miami. We have a large community of friends across the country who are in a very close conversation about continuing to advocate for these changes to the standards. Please join us. CHRIS: Let's talk a little bit about the future as we kind of look ahead. Obviously we've made a lot of progress through the efforts of you and other folks who are keeping a close eye on this. You talked about the fact that there's more awareness, more eagerness, more focus, but we also know that culture shifts in our profession, they don't happen overnight. I'm just kind of curious on your perspective of what's on the horizon. What things do you see in the future being done by law schools to continue to move the needle on improving the well-being of law students? Because we obviously know that you're preparing the next generation in some respects. There are general generational aspects to the improvement of the profession. So I'd love for you to break out the crystal ball, so to speak, and kind of talk about what you see kind of coming down the road as we continue to maintain an emphasis on this issue in the law school environment. JANET: Well, thank you, Chris. I'm not very good with a crystal ball, but let me try here. So I do believe, and I think at the CoLAP level, first of all, I believe that we need to work hard to make sure that not just student services folks, but faculty and administration do need to be trained on mental health first aid, which is a course, i an eight-hour course, to make sure that they have basic skills to be prepared to have conversations with people. This course, this mental health first aid course is not only for law schools, this is being done in law firms, it's being done with police, it's being done all over the country right now so that people are more equipped when they come in contact with a client or a patient or a student or a colleague or a child that they have some more basic skills to be able to triage the situation and feel prepared to understand what somebody is going through. So I do think we need to continue to push that course out, number one. JANET: I think number two, that we need to have some more institutional structure for keeping these conversations going, as you've said, Chris. I would say at the University of Miami, I have formed some great partnerships with other people at our university. I would include the people, my friends at the medical school. I think that our medical education and legal education in our student populations, there're strengths and there're weaknesses. There's a lot of overlap. So I've tried to partner closely with the medical school, our counseling center, other people at the university so we have some institutional structure for continuing a conversation. I think that's incredibly important because me, one person, I get busy and distracted by other things. But when you know that people are coming together at regular intervals to have a conversation that is empowering. That creates accountability, JANET: I think we also get a lot of accountability by working with the LAPs in our state. We just, this summer, just last month, the Florida LAP got all of the law schools in Florida together for a program. I know that these regional meetings are taking place right now in other states. That also creates a catalyst for change. Also when you're working with the State Supreme Court on the character and fitness topic. I think there is a strength in numbers when we can bring people together, whether it's under the auspices of a well-being committee or whether it's just again, a time of coming together to support one another, share, and then try to again, begin to imagine ways that we can work together to create change. BREE: Absolutely. I've always felt that in regards to these policy initiatives and the work around the well-being movement, get passionate people together sitting around a table, you have a bunch of lawyers, they're brilliant, they're creative, they're solution-focused. We can figure this out. And so Janet, thank you for being there at the head of the table in these discussions, in this work around law school. BREE: I want to thank our listeners for joining us. This is the third and the final of our miniseries on initiatives and innovations in law school space. Please join us for our research miniseries, where we'll have three episodes digging in and talking with some of the lead researchers and thought leaders in the lawyer and well-being space movement. So want to thank everybody for joining us again today. We will be back with you in the next couple of weeks with more episodes. In the meantime, be well. Take care. Thank you all.  

JoAnn Hathaway welcomes brand new co-host Molly Ranns to the On Balance podcast. The new duo send their best wishes to veteran co-host Tish Vincent as she embarks on the new adventure of retirement! Jumping right in, JoAnn and Molly welcome new guest Alexis Robertson to talk about the connection between diversity and inclusion and overall wellbeing. Alexis shares insights on how properly prioritizing mental and physical health through mindfulness, self-compassion, and personal boundaries helps us naturally be more inclusive toward those around us. Alexis Robertson is the director of diversity & inclusion for Foley & Lardner LLP.

JoAnn Hathaway welcomes brand new co-host Molly Ranns to the On Balance podcast. The new duo send their best wishes to veteran co-host Tish Vincent as she embarks on the new adventure of retirement! Jumping right in, JoAnn and Molly welcome new guest Alexis Robertson to talk about the connection between diversity and inclusion and overall wellbeing. Alexis shares insights on how properly prioritizing mental and physical health through mindfulness, self-compassion, and personal boundaries helps us naturally be more inclusive toward those around us. Alexis Robertson is the director of diversity & inclusion for Foley & Lardner LLP.

The legal profession has been evolving since its inception, but 2020 accelerated changes at a much more rapid pace. Because of shifts in the economy and the sudden need to offer legal services differently, the profession looks, and may look going forward, quite distinct from how it did just a year ago. On Balance hosts JoAnn Hathaway and Tish Vincent talk with legal industry analyst Ari Kaplan about the opportunities he sees for lawyers moving forward and ways to encourage community and networking in our socially distant world. Ari Kaplan is a lawyer, writer, analyst, and principal at Ari Kaplan Advisors.

The legal profession has been evolving since its inception, but 2020 accelerated changes at a much more rapid pace. Because of shifts in the economy and the sudden need to offer legal services differently, the profession looks, and may look going forward, quite distinct from how it did just a year ago. On Balance hosts JoAnn Hathaway and Tish Vincent talk with legal industry analyst Ari Kaplan about the opportunities he sees for lawyers moving forward and ways to encourage community and networking in our socially distant world. Ari Kaplan is a lawyer, writer, analyst, and principal at Ari Kaplan Advisors.

Lawyers may be surprised to learn that publicly accessible websites may be all they need for a significant amount of their online legal research. There may be no need to pay for expensive legal research databases if you know where to look! The State Bar of Michigan’s On Balance podcast hosts Tish Vincent and JoAnn Hathaway welcome Carole Levitt and Judy Davis, authors of Internet Legal Research on a Budget: Free and Low-Cost Resources for Lawyers, to learn more about their book and favorite budget-friendly resources. If you would like a copy of their book, go to linkon.in/ilrb20 and enter the discount code LGLRS20A for 20% off any time now through the end of 2020. Carole Levitt is president and founder of Internet For Lawyers. Judy K. Davis is a law librarian and adjunct assistant professor of law at the University of Southern California Gould School of Law.

Lawyers may be surprised to learn that publicly accessible websites may be all they need for a significant amount of their online legal research. There may be no need to pay for expensive legal research databases if you know where to look! The State Bar of Michigan’s On Balance podcast hosts Tish Vincent and JoAnn Hathaway welcome Carole Levitt and Judy Davis, authors of Internet Legal Research on a Budget: Free and Low-Cost Resources for Lawyers, to learn more about their book and favorite budget-friendly resources. If you would like a copy of their book, go to linkon.in/ilrb20 and enter the discount code LGLRS20A for 20% off any time now through the end of 2020. Carole Levitt is president and founder of Internet For Lawyers. Judy K. Davis is a law librarian and adjunct assistant professor of law at the University of Southern California Gould School of Law.

Attorneys are ethically bound to protect their firms from cybersecurity threats, but many feel out of their depth when choosing security options and fear the involved expense. While cybersecurity is truly a necessary cost of doing business for lawyers, there are options out there that won’t break the bank! On Balance podcast hosts JoAnn Hathaway and Tish Vincent talk with cybersecurity expert David Ries about current threats lawyers and law firms face and some common-sense, lower-cost options they can employ to protect their firm’s sensitive data. David Ries is of counsel in the Pittsburgh, PA office of Clark Hill PLC, where he practices in the areas of environmental, technology, and data protection law and litigation.

Attorneys are ethically bound to protect their firms from cybersecurity threats, but many feel out of their depth when choosing security options and fear the involved expense. While cybersecurity is truly a necessary cost of doing business for lawyers, there are options out there that won’t break the bank! On Balance podcast hosts JoAnn Hathaway and Tish Vincent talk with cybersecurity expert David Ries about current threats lawyers and law firms face and some common-sense, lower-cost options they can employ to protect their firm’s sensitive data. David Ries is of counsel in the Pittsburgh, PA office of Clark Hill PLC, where he practices in the areas of environmental, technology, and data protection law and litigation.

New risks surfacing for attorneys as a result of the pandemic are generating an increased need to guard your law firm against malpractice. To help listeners get a handle on these new issues, hosts Tish Vincent and JoAnn Hathaway welcome risk control expert Sean Ginty. Sean outlines the emerging problems in the profession and offers guidance on how to both protect your law firm and take the best care of your clients during the Covid era. Sean Ginty is the director of risk control at CNA Insurance.

New risks surfacing for attorneys as a result of the pandemic are generating an increased need to guard your law firm against malpractice. To help listeners get a handle on these new issues, hosts Tish Vincent and JoAnn Hathaway welcome risk control expert Sean Ginty. Sean outlines the emerging problems in the profession and offers guidance on how to both protect your law firm and take the best care of your clients during the Covid era. Sean Ginty is the director of risk control at CNA Insurance.

In this time of stress and uncertainty, it is essential that we continue to examine and prioritize our own mental health. In this edition of the State Bar of Michigan’s On Balance podcast, Tish Vincent and JoAnn Hathaway talk with Molly Ranns and Katie Stanley about their tips for cultivating mindfulness and staying healthy in the midst of the pandemic. Molly Ranns is a clinical case manager for the Lawyers and Judges Assistance Program at the State Bar of Michigan. Katie Stanley is a staff attorney and fair housing education manager for Legal Services of Eastern Michigan.

In this time of stress and uncertainty, it is essential that we continue to examine and prioritize our own mental health. In this edition of the State Bar of Michigan’s On Balance podcast, Tish Vincent and JoAnn Hathaway talk with Molly Ranns and Katie Stanley about their tips for cultivating mindfulness and staying healthy in the midst of the pandemic. Molly Ranns is a clinical case manager for the Lawyers and Judges Assistance Program at the State Bar of Michigan. Katie Stanley is a staff attorney and fair housing education manager for Legal Services of Eastern Michigan.

How has the State Bar of Michigan been impacted by the public health crisis? JoAnn Hathaway and Tish Vincent discuss the latest Bar updates with current president Dennis Barnes. He offers an overview of the Bar’s work to address challenges presented by the pandemic, including practical solutions for the remote practice of law and efforts to promote the public’s access to justice in these uncertain times. Dennis Barnes is a member of Barris, Sott, Denn, & Driker, PLLC and president of the State Bar of Michigan.

How has the State Bar of Michigan been impacted by the public health crisis? JoAnn Hathaway and Tish Vincent discuss the latest Bar updates with current president Dennis Barnes. He offers an overview of the Bar’s work to address challenges presented by the pandemic, including practical solutions for the remote practice of law and efforts to promote the public’s access to justice in these uncertain times. Dennis Barnes is a member of Barris, Sott, Denn, & Driker, PLLC and president of the State Bar of Michigan.

LinkedIn helps lawyers increase their visibility and establish their expertise, but many aren’t using it to its greatest potential. How can you be better by using it more effectively? Allison Shields joins Tish Vincent and JoAnn Hathaway to discuss tips from the book she co-authored on this topic, Make LinkedIn Work for You: A Practical Guide for Lawyers and Other Legal Professionals. Allison C. Shields, Esq. is the president of Legal Ease Consulting, Inc.

LinkedIn helps lawyers increase their visibility and establish their expertise, but many aren’t using it to its greatest potential. How can you be better by using it more effectively? Allison Shields joins Tish Vincent and JoAnn Hathaway to discuss tips from the book she co-authored on this topic, Make LinkedIn Work for You: A Practical Guide for Lawyers and Other Legal Professionals. Allison C. Shields, Esq. is the president of Legal Ease Consulting, Inc.

The Michigan Supreme Court recently ordered the state’s trial courts to “limit access to courtrooms and other spaces to no more than 10 persons, including staff, and to practice social distancing and limit court activity to only essential functions.” On Balance hosts JoAnn Hathaway and Tish Vincent talk with Chief Justice Bridget Mary McCormack about what this new order means for Michigan lawyers during the COVID-19 pandemic. She urges lawyers to stay in touch with the State Bar of Michigan for the most up-to-date recommendations during this crisis. They also discuss the Michigan Supreme Court’s order to replace mental health questions on the Michigan Bar Examination application. The change seeks to destigmatize mental health and encourage law students and new lawyers to seek mental health help when needed. Visit www.michbar.org to view COVID-19 FAQs and resources.

The Michigan Supreme Court recently ordered the state’s trial courts to “limit access to courtrooms and other spaces to no more than 10 persons, including staff, and to practice social distancing and limit court activity to only essential functions.” On Balance hosts JoAnn Hathaway and Tish Vincent talk with Chief Justice Bridget Mary McCormack about what this new order means for Michigan lawyers during the COVID-19 pandemic. She urges lawyers to stay in touch with the State Bar of Michigan for the most up-to-date recommendations during this crisis. They also discuss the Michigan Supreme Court’s order to replace mental health questions on the Michigan Bar Examination application. The change seeks to destigmatize mental health and encourage law students and new lawyers to seek mental health help when needed. Visit www.michbar.org to view COVID-19 FAQs and resources.

Though they may serve the common purpose of advising and advocating for their clients, lawyers are unique individuals with different approaches to the practice of law. As such, each lawyer’s professional identity within the legal system will reflect the lived experiences and personal values they hold as individuals. But sometimes professional identity is not easy to define on your own! Colorado Attorney Mentoring Program director Ryann Peyton talks to hosts Tish Vincent and JoAnn Hathaway about the program’s model and how mentorship has positively affected Colorado attorneys at many stages of their careers.

Though they may serve the common purpose of advising and advocating for their clients, lawyers are unique individuals with different approaches to the practice of law. As such, each lawyer’s professional identity within the legal system will reflect the lived experiences and personal values they hold as individuals. But sometimes professional identity is not easy to define on your own! Colorado Attorney Mentoring Program director Ryann Peyton talks to hosts Tish Vincent and JoAnn Hathaway about the program’s model and how mentorship has positively affected Colorado attorneys at many stages of their careers.

Last time on the State Bar of Michigan’s On Balance podcast, Tish Vincent and JoAnn Hathaway talked with Barron Henley about new rules coming January 1, 2020 related to Michigan’s adoption of the ethical duty of technology competence. Following up on that conversation, Barron offers insights on lawyers’ ethical responsibilities for data security. He outlines various security measures lawyers should employ in their practice (encryption, password managers, VPNs, and more) and advises them to be upfront about security with their clients. Barron Henley is an attorney and a legal technologist with Affinity Consulting Group.

Many legal professionals struggle with addiction issues, but while a great deal of attention gets put on the use of alcohol and drugs, addiction to gambling is often overlooked. To help shed some light on this important and frequently devastating issue, On Balance podcast hosts Tish Vincent and JoAnn Hathaway are joined by former attorney Jeff Wasserman, Judicial Outreach and Development Director for the Delaware Council on Gambling Problems and a recovering gambling addict. Jeff shares a wealth of information, such as his own path from the beginning stages of his addiction in school, its career ending conclusion, and his new life in abstinence; the four factors that put lawyers and law students at particular risk; and the work he’s doing now to help others, like his Skype-based support group, his podcast All In: The Addicted Gambler’s Podcast, and his involvement with the Delaware Council on Gambling Problems. Jeff P. Wasserman works for the Delaware Council on Gambling Problems as the Judicial Outreach and Development Director. Jeff is a former attorney and a recovering gambling addict. Check out Jeff’s podcast through Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcasting app. Learn more through the Delaware Council on Gambling Problems.

The Michigan Supreme Court recently adopted amendments to the civil discovery process, and with these rules becoming effective on January 1, 2020, Michigan lawyers need to be prepared. On Balance podcast hosts JoAnn Hathaway and Tish Vincent talk to Katie Hennessey, public policy counsel at the bar, about the drivers behind these amendments and the resources available to help lawyers get up to speed on the changes. Check out the Civil Discovery Resource Center on the State Bar of Michigan website for rule explanations, webinars, practice tips, and more!  Katie Loncarich Hennessey is public policy counsel at the State Bar of Michigan.

Focusing on a new aspect of attorney mental health, On Balance Podcast hosts Tish Vincent and JoAnn Hathaway are joined by Olivia Ash and Jeff Zapor to discuss the prevalence of loneliness in the profession and its effect on lawyers. Olivia shares her research on loneliness in legal professionals and describes the drivers behind their sense of isolation. Jeff talks about his personal experience with loneliness and addiction during law school and as a young lawyer and shares his story of recovery. Together, they offer insight into this issue and the need to promote healthy, connected relationships in the profession. Olivia Ash is an ERISA compliance consultant at Compliancedashboard, LLC and is adjunct faculty at Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis. Jeff Zapor is an attorney and licensed professional counselor and a clinical case manager at the Lawyers and Judges Assistance Program at the State Bar of Michigan.

How can firms create a culture that prioritizes health and well-being? In this On Balance Podcast, Tish Vincent and Rob Mathis talk to Anne Brafford about positive strategies for supporting well-being in the workplace. They focus on concrete ways firms can address problems and emphasize the positive effects that result from investing in a healthier work environment, including better productivity, increased client satisfaction, and greater profitability. Anne Brafford (JD, MAPP, PhD in progress) is a former equity partner at Morgan, Lewis, & Bockius LLP and the founder of Aspire, an educational and consultancy firm for the legal profession.

Your grandmother may have told you “if you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all”— but maybe you just need to say it the right way. Hosts JoAnne Hathaway and Tish Vincent are joined by Dr. Liane Davey, Ph.D, to discuss a better way to engage in and resolve workplace conflict, building a healthier, more productive team dynamic in the process. Learn practical methods for confronting coworkers, challenging differing positions, and using dissent to improve trust and productivity- all that and more in this episode of the State Bar of Michigan’s On Balance Podcast. Dr. Liane Davey Ph.D is an organizational psychologist, public speaker, and a New York Times bestselling author. Find the Conflict Habit Cheat Sheet discussed in the episode here and learn more about Dr. Davey and about her latest book, The Good Fight, at her website.

Many lawyers work haphazardly without making a plan for themselves, and managing projects is a constant struggle. How can lawyers take back control of their time? In this episode of the State Bar of Michigan: On Balance Podcast, hosts Tish Vincent and JoAnn Hathaway talk to Allison Shields about how lawyers can do more in less time. They discuss the importance of setting goals and avoiding the discouraging pitfall of creating never-ending to-do lists. Lawyers who learn to prioritize tasks and manage their activities can accomplish much more in a shorter amount of time. Allison also emphasizes the need for lawyers to stop overworking themselves and strategize ways to create a healthy work-life balance. Allison Shields is president of Legal Ease Consulting, Inc. where she helps attorneys create highly effective law practices and get the clients they really want.

How has legal education evolved, and what unique challenges do today’s law students face? In this episode of On Balance, hosts JoAnn Hathaway and Tish Vincent talk to Victoria Vuletich about what the law school experience is like for the current generation of students. They discuss a broad scope of current law school issues including: restructuring trends in the legal profession, technology advancements, shifting student learning styles, and increased support of student mental health. Victoria Vuletich is the assistant dean at the Grand Rapids, MI campus of Western Michigan University Cooley Law School.

The opioid crisis is deeper, broader, and more nuanced than many people realize. In this episode of the State Bar of Michigan: On Balance Podcast, hosts JoAnn Hathaway and Tish Vincent talk to Harry Nelson about the opioid crisis and his book, “The United States of Opioids: A Prescription For Liberating A Nation In Pain.” They discuss the needs for reform in healthcare laws and greater access to treatment for opioid addictions. Harry Nelson is founder and managing partner of Nelson Hardiman and author of the book, “The United States of Opioids: A Prescription For Liberating A Nation In Pain.”

Historically, lawyer well-being has not been a major focus of the legal profession, but many see a need for a complete cultural shift. In this episode of On Balance, JoAnn Hathaway and Tish Vincent talk to Terry Harrell about her work with the National Task Force on Lawyer Well-Being. They discuss the “Well-Being Report” created by the Task Force, which was written to be a road map forward for the profession as it shifts its mindset on lawyer well-being. They also talk about the recently developed “Well-Being Toolkit” – a resource for encouraging wellness that lawyers and legal employers can use in their firms. Terry Harrell is the executive director of the Indiana Judges and Lawyers Assistance Program and a member of the National Task Force on Lawyer Well-Being.

There’s a lot more to running a lean law firm than just cutting costs. In this episode of On Balance, hosts JoAnn Hathaway and Tish Vincent talk to Larry Port about what it means to be a lean law firm, addressing common misconceptions and the core ideas that make the system successful. These include constantly striving for perfection, measuring success, and removing bottlenecks, to name a few. Larry Port, CEO of Rocket Matter, is also a speaker and award winning writer at the crossroads of the legal profession and cutting edge technology.

While both can benefit a practice, lawyers often get marketing and business development confused. In this episode of On Balance, hosts JoAnn Hathaway and Tish Vincent talk to John Reed about essential marketing strategies for lawyers and how marketing differs from business development. They discuss important marketing and business development activities that are important depending on your practice areas. Stay tuned for tips on using social media like Linkedin, building a blog, and whether or not TV commercials are a viable investment. John F. Reed is the founder of Rain BDM, a consultancy that helps law firms of all sizes build outstanding client relationships.

Lawyers are often seen as protectors, helping others recover and attain justice after trauma. But even protectors need help sometimes. In this episode of On Balance, hosts JoAnn Hathaway and Tish Vincent talk to Shawn Healy about the prevalence of depression in the legal profession, why it’s so common, and how to practice wellness in a way that addresses depression before it reaches a crisis point. They discuss overcoming the legal industry stigma that sees mental illness as weakness and the difference between sadness and clinical depression. They also address law students directly, urging them to invest in mental wellness early on to mitigate future struggles. Dr. Shawn Healy joined Lawyers Concerned for Lawyers in March of 2014 following his work in a private group practice in Cambridge.

For lawyers managing their own firm, being successful involves more than ordering people around. In this episode of On Balance, hosts JoAnn Hathaway and Tish Vincent talk to Andrew Elowitt about the qualities of a successful law firm manager such as handling employee frustration and communicating goals and expectations well. They also discuss the challenges involved in managing superstar employees and how this differs from other employees. Andrew Elowitt, JD, MBA, PCC, brings over 25 year’s experience as both an executive and business lawyer to New Actions.

Multiple surveys conducted by the ABA have identified an elevated risk of anxiety and substance abuse within the legal community. In this episode of On Balance, hosts JoAnn Hathaway and Tish Vincent talk to Patrick Krill about anxiety and substance abuse within the legal profession including relevant studies and resources for both lawyers and employers that help cultivate wellbeing in the workplace. They also discuss the common issue of lawyers and law students being unwilling to ask for help and what the industry can do as a whole to address this issue. Patrick Krill is director of the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation Legal Professionals Program. In that role, he helps addicted attorneys, judges and law students to prepare for and overcome the distinctive challenges they face in their recovery from chemical dependency. Mentioned: The Path to Lawyer Well Being: Practical Recommendations for Positive Change

Just like any other kind of journey, the adventure of starting a law firm has to begin somewhere. In this episode of On Balance, hosts JoAnn Hathaway and Tish Vincent talk to Lea Ann Sterling about her experience starting a successful law firm before practice management tools became popular. She discusses the importance of getting advice from reliable experts about things like technology and bookkeeping and how to find such help. She also shares the tools she uses to maintain a successful practice, like surveys that measure customer satisfaction and marketing videos. Lea Ann Sterling has been the founder and managing attorney of Sterling Law since 2001.

For lawyers struggling with addiction, stigmas, lack of support, and the fear of consequences can make the situation seem hopeless. In this episode of On Balance, hosts JoAnn Hathaway and Tish Vincent talk to Brian Cuban about what you can do about addiction both as a lawyer and as an employer. He explains that it’s about handling the problem of addiction before you have to deal with its consequences. They also discuss how vital it is to have peer support when you’re struggling with wellness issues and how sometimes stigmas can get in the way of a full recovery. Brian Cuban the younger brother of Dallas Mavericks owner and entrepreneur Mark Cuban, is a Dallas based attorney, author and addiction recovery advocate.

Your firm has finally invested in new technology but that’s only half the battle. In order to actually save time and energy, you need to train your firm's employees to use the technology correctly, whether it's Microsoft Office, Adobe, or even an internal software service. In this episode of On Balance, hosts JoAnn Hathaway and Tish Vincent talk to Casey Flaherty about why investing in proper training is an essential part of investing in new technology. Casey recalls his own experiences working with firms’ adoption and productivity problems and discusses what beneficial training actually looks like in practice. Casey Flaherty is well-known for creating the Legal Technology Audit (LTA), a test of basic technological proficiency for lawyers and in-house corporate departments.

In the retrial of Dennis Tomasik, the jury only deliberated for 19 minutes before acquitting Dennis, who had been wrongfully imprisoned for close to nine years. In this episode of On Balance, hosts JoAnn Hathaway and Tish Vincent talk to Takura Nyamfukudza, Mary Chartier, and Dennis and Kim Tomasik themselves about the details of the case. Dennis discusses his experience in prison and what helped him persevere, and the attorneys discuss the evidence, witnesses, and the Wrongful Imprisonment Compensation Act. Mary Chartier's advocacy skills are the result of years of experience litigating serious and complex criminal defense cases in federal and state courts around Michigan. Takura Nyamfukudza is an experienced criminal defense litigator who practices in state and federal courts throughout Michigan. Dennis Tomasik was acquitted of first-degree criminal sexual conduct after wrongly imprisoned for close to nine years. Kim Tomasik is his wife who aided attorneys in gathering evidence for the case.

What equips a lawyer to effectively argue in the Supreme Court? In this episode of On Balance, hosts JoAnn Hathaway and Tish Vincent talk to Justice Wilder about what it’s like to argue cases in the Supreme Court and the different skillsets involved. They discuss the difference between trial and appellate lawyers and how trial lawyers can learn more about appellate work, including using the Michigan Supreme Court YouTube channel as a resource. Justice Kurtis Wilder was appointed to the Michigan Supreme Court by Governor Rick Snyder in May 2017.

Lawyers are notoriously slow at adopting technology. Despite this the use of social media in law is becoming more and more common. In this episode of On Balance, hosts JoAnn Hathaway and Tish Vincent talk to Justice McCormack about the benefits to judges using social media. Some of these benefits include communicating with other judges across the state and effectively sharing information with the public. They also explain how to get started with social media, taking proper precautions, and not oversharing personal information. Justice Bridget Mary McCormack joined the Michigan Supreme Court in January 2013 and is a law professor University of Michigan Law School.

A majority of lawyers know what social media is and the basics of how to use the various platforms, but many don’t realize the potential these platforms have to communicate with potential clients and build community. In this episode of On Balance, hosts JoAnn Hathaway and Tish Vincent talk to Samantha Meinke about how and why lawyers should use social media for their practice. They discuss how to get started, how to maintain social media when you’re busy, and the definition and importance of responsive design. Samantha Meinke is the communications manager at the State Bar of Michigan. In this role, she creates and oversees communications, marketing, social media and media relations strategies.

In an effort to increase efficiency and improve the service of trial courts, technological advances are being implemented in the state of Michigan. One of these advances is the introduction of e-filing which will allow litigants to electronically file documents without having to travel to a courthouse. In this episode of On Balance, host Tish Vincent talks to Mary Roush and David Leasure about the statewide e-filing initiative that the state is working on with ImageSoft in order to bring e-filing to the Michigan Courts. Together, they discuss the benefits of e-filing, how they chose ImageSoft, and how the software works. Mary Roush is the project manager of the statewide e-filing initiative. David Leasure is the product owner of TrueFiling, a product of ImageSoft.

Being a lawyer is stressful. Many struggle to balance their physical health and wellbeing with the demands of their profession. On Balance, premiering this week on Legal Talk Network, delivers useful and entertaining ideas on managing life as a lawyer. To hear more about the show and what inspired its creation, tune in as the State Bar of Michigan’s executive director Janet Welch introduces hosts Tish Vincent and JoAnn Hathaway. Stay till the end for a sneak peek at the bonus content and some of the notable guests featured in the early podcasts.

The goal of the NEXT Conference is to bring lawyers together from all across Michigan in order to share ideas, make connections, and discuss the future of law. In this episode of On Balance, hosts JoAnn Hathaway and Tish Vincent talk to Samantha Meinke about the 2017 Next Conference including what’s new and what opportunities are available for attendees. Some of the highlights of this year’s conference included an all-member networking luncheon and reception, the Exhibitor Hall with companies like Clio and MyCase, and the Learning Lounges with educational opportunities for all variety of lawyers. Samantha Meinke is the communications manager at the State Bar of Michigan. In this role, she creates and oversees communications, marketing, social media and media relations strategies.

Lawyers and the media may not be enemies, but they’re certainly not friends. In this episode of On Balance, hosts JoAnn Hathaway and Tish Vincent talk to ABC’s Dan Abrams about the tension between lawyers and the media. In their discussion, they cover the effect of social media on a trial, finding unbiased jurors, and how this tension affected the Casey Anthony case.   Dan Abrams is a web entrepreneur and television presenter who serves as the chief legal affairs anchor for ABC News and as the host of both 60 Days In and Live PD on the A&E cable network.

Dennis Tomasik was wrongfully imprisoned for close to nine years before his retrial and subsequent exoneration. In this episode of On Balance, hosts JoAnn Hathaway and Tish Vincent talk to Kris and Marty Tieber, the attorneys who helped reconstruct the Tomasik case and free Dennis. They discuss the importance of developing a story, their process of re-gathering the information, and the rewards for diligent legal work. Martin Tieber is a criminal defense attorney who specializes in criminal appeals, post conviction proceedings, and federal habeas litigation. Kristoffer Tieber also devotes most of his practice to criminal appeals, post conviction proceedings, and federal habeas litigation.

Diversity in the legal profession is not just a conversation happening among law firms and lawyers, but a concern for the judiciary as a whole. In this report from On The Road, hosts JoAnn Hathaway and Tish Vincent talk with State Bar of Michigan President Lawrence Nolan about the Diversity and Inclusion Committee, implicit bias among jurors, and consistently sustaining efforts to improve diversity within the judiciary.

Many law firms work hard to increase their client base and grow their practice without having a clear understanding of what kind of law firm they would like to become. In this report from On The Road, hosts JoAnn Hathaway and Tish Vincent talk with State Bar of Michigan Annual Meeting keynote speaker and legal industry analyst Ari Kaplan about helping attorneys develop their companies and what lawyers can learn from successful organizations in other industries.

The conversation surrounding access to justice is often centered on what attorneys can do to close the access gap. In this report from On The Road, hosts JoAnn Hathaway and Tish Vincent talk with Michigan Supreme Court Chief Justice Robert Young about innovations happening in the state and supreme courts, imposed performance standards for trial judges, and how tech and process design are helping to streamline the judiciary.

After graduating from law school it can be hard for young lawyers to connect with other industry professionals within their community. In this report from On The Road, hosts JoAnn Hathaway and Tish Vincent talk with incoming chair of the State Bar of Michigan Young Lawyers Section Shenique Moss about upcoming events available to Michigan’s young lawyers and her experiences with the Young Lawyers Section.

For lawyers interested in improving access to justice, it can be difficult finding organizations that you can work with to accomplish that goal. In this report from On The Road, hosts JoAnn Hathaway and Tish Vincent talk with Michigan State Bar Foundation Executive Director Linda Rexer about the foundation, limited scope representation, and the Michigan self-help program.