Well-Being

• The MSBA Well-Being Committee (previously the Life & the Law Committee) is the committee of the Minnesota State Bar Association dedicated to helping lawyers and legal professionals thrive in both their legal careers and personal lives  Specifically, we accomplish our goals in a variety of ways, including:
• Providing CLE programs and events dedicated to providing education on career, professional, and personal development,
• Using our website and other informational materials to provide links and resources relevant to wellness and improving quality of life, and
• Supporting and collaborating with lawyer assistance programs, including Minnesota Lawyers Concerned for Lawyers.

Mindful Moments PPT presentation by Well-Being Committee member Patty Beck

Research shows that a happy, healthy lawyer enjoys a more meaningful practice and personal life while better serving his or her clients. According to the ABA, lawyer well-being involves a continuous process in which lawyers seek to thrive in each of the six dimensions of their lives, and the MSBA Well-Being Committee is committed to helping Minnesota lawyers do exactly that.

Minnesota Call to Action for Lawyer Well-Being

• The Minnesota Supreme Court hosted a Call to Action for lawyer well-being in February 2019 to discuss the widespread challenges lawyers in Minnesota face with regard to well-being. Hundreds of attorneys participated in a seminar that highlighted the struggles lawyers endure, practical steps lawyers and legal employers can take to combat the well-being crisis, and plans for further action to change the culture of the legal profession in Minnesota. Click Here to learn more about the Call to Action, to view related educational materials, and to watch key presentations delivered throughout the seminar.

Want to get involved in our committee? Please contact us!

Co-Chairs
Paul Yang
Carrie Osowski

Staff Liaison
Nancy Mischel
612-278-6331 

The MSBA Well-Being Committee is excited to share that there has been a lot of interest in lawyer well-being within our community, which has created more opportunities for us to promote lawyer well-being in Minnesota!

 We are looking for articles that touch on any of the following topics:

• Practical tips on how to incorporate well-being into daily routines
  • i.e., mindfulness, exercise, stress-reducing tips for around the office (in the moment and long-term)
• Spotlight articles where lawyers/judges/students share their experiences with anything well-being related including anxiety, depression, substance use, etc., and how that has impacted their experience in the legal profession
• Articles addressing any type of success stories of lawyers/judges incorporating well-being into their daily practices
• Substantive articles related to ethics/malpractice/statistics on well-being related topics
  • i.e., unplugging, nutrition, importance of sleep, etc. and ethical/malpractice consequences for not addressing them

The articles can vary in length from 700-3,000 words. We want to represent viewpoints from the entire legal profession including lawyers at all firm sizes and in-house, lawyers in their first 10 years of practice and beyond, judges, law students, lawyers in non-practicing roles, etc. 

2022-23 Bar Year
Meetings are held from 1:00 p.m.-2:00 p.m. on the second Tuesday of every month. Meetings are currently being held via zoom.

•  NEW: MSBA COVID-19 Resources Page
  • Updated frequently by MSBA staff
•  NEW: LCL COVID-19 and Well Being Guide
  • Lawyers Concerned for Lawyers, March 2020
• Healthy Lawyers Are Productive Lawyers: The business case for promoting lawyer well-being, by Patty Beck and Alice M. Sherren
  • Bench & Bar of Minnesota, January 2020
• After Burnout, by Matthew Foli
  • The Hennepin Lawyer, October 2019
• JLAP: Bar associations tackle lawyer wellness issues, by Kari Morrigan
  • The Indiana Lawyer, September 18, 2019
• Practicing Well: Self-Evaluation, by Patty Beck
  • Professional Liability Defense Quarterly, Volume 11, Issue 3
• Making Mental Health a Money Matter: 3M Uses ABA Wellness Pledge in Outside Counsel Search, by Kristen Rasmussen
  • Law.Com, August 25, 2019
• The role of fear in the practice of law, by Sibyl Dunlop
  • Minnesota Lawyer, June 21, 2019
• Practicing Well: Slow Down and Take a Break!, by Patty Beck
  • Professional Liability Defense Quarterly, Volume 11, Issue 2
• Depressed? Me?! Come on…, by Joshua A. Bobich
  • The Hennepin Lawyer, May 13, 2019
• School of Law Pledges to Improve Lawyer and Law Student Well-being, by Jordan Osterman
  • Academic News, School of Law News Feed, March 27, 2019
• Practicing Well: Improving your Diet, by Andrew P. Carroll
  • Professional Liability Defense Quarterly, Volume 11, Issue 1
• Lawyer Well-Being: Prescribing sleep (Part 2), Robin M. Wolpert
  • Minnesota Lawyer, March 21, 2019
• Lawyer Well-Being: Sleep – an amazing breakthrough for lawyers, by Robin M. Wolpert
  • Minnesota Lawyer, March 5, 2019
• Lawyer well-being emphasized at MN Supreme Court’s ‘Call to Action’ conference, by Andy Steiner
  • MinnPost, March 4, 2019

As attorneys, we have a responsibility to ourselves, our clients, and the profession to ensure we are maintaining an appropriate work/life balance that allows us to successfully, and ethically, engage in the practice of law. Below are events around the Twin Cities and greater Minnesota that will allow attorneys to take time to engage in activities that promote physical and mental health. If you would like to see additional events added to our page, please contact one of the co-chairs.  

HCBA Clubs – HCBA offers a variety of clubs that promote attorney wellness with upcoming events including Yoga, Running, Biking, Cross-Country Skiing, Hockey, Movies, Photography, etc. (Click Here for more information)

5K, 10K, Half Marathons, Full Marathons (for a full list of MN events, Click Here)

• Stay tuned for more information!

Twin Cities Literary Calendar
Interested in attending a poetry reading, lecture/panel discussion of works by local authors, or joining a book club? Click here to see the upcoming events around the Twin Cities!

Twin Cities Arts & Culture Event Calendar
Looking to attend an event at an art gallery, a performance at a local theater, or live music performances? Click here for a list of events happening around the Twin Cities!

Other Fun Ideas
Other great ways to take a break from the office and reboot are taking cooking classes, art/craft classes, attending an open mic night at a comedy club or a local coffee shop, and volunteering at an animal shelter. There are lots of opportunities readily available by doing a quick internet search in your area. If you’re looking for other ideas, feel free to email one of the committee co-chairs and we’d be happy to brainstorm!

• The ABA Working Group to Advance Well-Being in the Legal Profession was created in September 2017 to examine and make recommendations regarding the current state of attorney mental health and substance use issues with an emphasis on helping legal employers support healthy work environments. Its focus is on helping legal employers support healthy work environments, which are critical for lawyer wellness. Research shows that if workplace cultures support well-being, lawyers will be better able to make good choices that allow them to thrive and be their best for clients, colleagues, and work organizations. 
  

  A key resource they have developed is the ABA Well-Being Toolkit for Lawyers and Legal Employers, which offers tools and practical guidance for legal employers who want to join the lawyer well-being movement by launching organizational initiative.

  Also available is the Well-Being Toolkit Nutshell: 80 Tips for Lawyer Thriving, summarizing 80 of the Toolkit’s key items to help legal employers get started on a lawyer well-being initiative.

• The ABA’s National Task Force on Lawyer Well-Being’s The Path to Lawyer Well-Being: Practical Recommendations for Positive Change builds upon the findings of 2016 ABA CoLAP/Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation’s study on lawyer impairment and the 2016 Survey of Law Student Well-Being. With this Report and its Recommendations, the Task Force seeks to create a movement towards improving the health and wellbeing of the legal profession.

The 44 recommendations contained within the Report are directed to various legal stakeholders such as judges, regulators, law firms, law schools, bar associations, professional liability carriers and lawyer assistance programs, all in an effort to change the culture and discussion surrounding attorney wellbeing.