Work-Life Balance and Wellness

Bonnie, a white woman with blond hair, wears a white blouse. By Bonnie Keen

The legal profession has some of the most overwhelming workloads. It can be easy to get caught up in overscheduling and becoming stressed before the end of the day. Often, the amount of time tasks will take is underestimated, which leaves employees playing catch up or lawyers having to stay late at the office or take work home. The quality of your work-life balance can contribute directly to your overall health and wellness, which, in turn, will help your productivity and work product in the long term.

Healthy Strategies to Improve Work-Life Balance

Exercise

Even if all you have time for is two small breaks a day, get outside and walk or jog. If getting outside for fresh air is not feasible, then walking pads are an affordable alternative. If you can, try to get to the gym three times a week at a time that works best for you. A number of studies have shown that regular physical activity can relieve stress and improve mental clarity, allowing you to think about how to structure your work tasks better for your week.

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Family Law Attorney Wellness (FLAW) Initiative

Jennifer, a white woman with brown hair in a pixie cut, wears a teal blouse and black jacket.By Jennifer Tharrington 

As your new Chairperson of the Family Law Section, it is my distinct pleasure to unveil an initiative that is close to my heart and crucial to our collective well-being. I am calling it the Family Law Attorney Wellness (FLAW) initiative.

In our demanding field, we are often so focused on the needs of our clients that we may neglect our own health and well-being. This is a FLAW. The intense emotional and intellectual demands of family law can lead to significant stress, burnout, addiction, and other mental health challenges. This is a FLAW. According to a study by the American Bar Association, 28% of practicing attorneys struggle with depression and more than 50% report having experienced burnout. This is a FLAW. It is time that we acknowledge and address these issues head-on, fostering a culture that supports the well-being of every attorney in our community. We are going to reclaim the FLAW and make it work for us.

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Phone-A-Friend (2024 Family Law Fall CLE Program) – September 13, 2024

Lori, a white woman with blond hair, wears a navy blue blouse. By Lori Vitale

Coleman Cowan – featured speaker!

Attorney Coleman Cowan, former Emmy award-winning 60 Minutes producer, and successful personal injury litigator, also just became a Senior Lecturing Fellow at Duke University School of Law. He is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (undergrad) and Wake Forest University School of Law who went on to get a master’s degree in journalism from Columbia University in New York City.

Coleman, a white man with brown hair, wears a pale blue shirt, red tie and black jacket.

Coleman Cowan

His graduate thesis was his investigative journalism into DNA testing on rape kits at the NYPD, and ultimately launched his career at 60 Minutes. Attorney Cowan will be our captivating guest lecturer for the Lunch Program at the Fall CLE, presenting on the topic: “To Live, Not Exist: What Our Experiences Can Teach Us about Managing Stress and Anxiety.”

You can attend this CLE in person at the Marriott Greensboro Downtown or via webcast.

Register for the fall CLE program.

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What Now, Alexa?

Denise, a white woman with blond hair, wears a red suit.By Denise Smith Cline 

In the world of technology, I am more curious than skilled. As a solo practitioner, mediator and arbitrator, my skill set can generously be described as “adaptive.” When I lost an entire federal court brief in a technological swamp the night before it was due and had to pull an all-nighter to recreate it, I learned a hard lesson about saving backups. An email hack taught me about both two-factor authentication (and that I could repurpose swear words I had archived for more life-threatening emergencies).

Technology in alternative dispute resolution has been a story of adaptation, too. During the pandemic, we quickly learned how to use Zoom for mediations, arbitrations and court hearings. For many of us, Zoom mediations remain a significant part of what we do. But as naturally cautious lawyers, few of us welcome the opportunity to dip our toes into machine learning or purely online adaptations to the classic forms and forums we have grown accustomed to.

Despite the uncertainty we may feel, technology is transforming everything we know, and machine learning and other technology promise to be a bigger and bigger part of our lives. If you’re like me, AI has become a go-to resource in drafting simple letters, planning vacation itineraries and other rudimentary tasks. On a weekly basis, too, I get notifications about AI or other technological resources that are becoming routine in the practice of law.

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