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On Demand
Audio
What Every Lawyer Needs to Know About Substance Abuse
Produced on September 12, 2014
Course Information
Course Description
Chronic stress, substance abuse, and depression are common career pitfalls for attorneys. These can lead to burnout and malpractice, damaging an attorney's health and career.
In this engaging and practical session, you'll learn:
- Why the characteristics that make you a great lawyer also make you susceptible to substance abuse and emotional stress.
- How the culture of the profession inadvertently contributes to the high risk of substance abuse and depression.
- A clear strategy to keep you performing at a high level over time, while expertly handling the challenges of legal practice.
- The one question you can ask that will make you more skillful at handling stress every day.
Learning Objectives:
I. Learn the rules regarding attorney competence.
- ABA Model Rules
- CA Rule 3-110
II. Grasp the cost of chronic stress and substance abuse.
- Cost of disciplinary action
- Case studies
III. Understand the factors that contribute to high rates of attorney substance abuse.
- Characteristics of successful attorneys
- Cultural norms within the profession
IV. Employ strategies and tools to help protect you every day.
- Case studies
- Resources
Faculty
Kim Nicol is a mindfulness and leadership coach. Her CLEs on attorney wellbeing have helped thousands of lawyers around the country. She coaches lawyers to equip them with the mindset and skills needed to thrive at work and in life.
Kim teaches management skills and leadership at General Assembly; she is a meditation teacher at WITHIN meditation. Her students and clients come from diverse industries and companies around the world. She brings a holistic, multicultural, and human-centered perspective to her work.
Kim earned her law degree at Santa Clara University School of Law and completed coach training at the University of California, Davis. She is a certified coach through the International Coaching Federation.
Bar Admissions:
California (inactive)
Reviews
This course was marvelous!
This was the best course I've taken on Lawline! This is actually life saving information! I would LOVE to see more classes by Kim Nicol on attorney self care and finding our chill!!
Other speakers should be able to speak extemporaneously like Ms. Nicol. She made a subject, of which I have little interest, interesting.
I would highly recommend this course and found it to be a refreshing break from standard topics.
Really helpful.
Very good and helpful. Not an easy audience to teach meditation to.
Very informative
Excellent course
Only substance abuse program that offered a useful way to reduce stress
ACTUALLY AN EXCELLENT PRESENTATION.
very professional and enjoyable
Time well-spent.
Enjoyed the topic - different from norm.
Relaxing and informative.
Excellent!
It was really a great program.
Really liked this presentation. I learned a lot!
Superb. Refreshing. Motivational.
Interesting
good program
Excellent presenter
Excellent
Terrific!
This was the best seminar I've ever watched on the topic of work and mental/emotional/physical health. Well done!
Good coverage for a sensitive subject
Great program. Very informative and useful.
Excellent speaker with a kind soul.
Very good presentation.
It was refreshing.
Very soothing speaker.
The best!
It was informative and helpful. Although I have never had a substance abuse problem, I found the discussion about dealing with stress in general to be very useful.
Very different approach to the subject than I have heard over the many years which was excellent & captive. Very good speaker!
Awesome. Great speaker
If you have a problem this would be a great program.
This was interesting.
Practical.
Very good format!
Kim nicole has a voice you can listen to and it keeps your attention.
very good course
Excellent!
Sincerity is impressive
I find this method of approach to Substance Abuse very insightful. It is best to treat the entire aspects: physical, emotional and spiritual.
Very restful, and insightful, and helped me to feel that there might be an end in sight. That I might actually be able to get a hold of my stress. Thank you.
Fantastic presentation. The best
Excellent
Best program I've heard on this subject. Every attorney should watch this one!
Very good. Unexpectedly so!
Very well organized and presented.
Excellent program and speaker.
A very peaceful experience generated by speakers inner peace.
Excellent program.
Excellent presentation.
Interesting topic!
This was a breath of fresh air from the normal AA line that the Bar usually endorses! Interesting with practical information of developing better stress release coping strategies.
Wow! This was the best CLE I have attended this year. What a wonderful and different approach to talking about substance abuse. Very useful - it gave me a lot of things to think about.
I found the seminar very stressful and depressing BUT I do feel she gave me excellent tools to cope with stress!
great
Nice Presenter
very soothing instructor. i could listen to her all day.
very appropriate to me at this time in my life
Nice focus about stress relief.
wonderful speaker
Kim was interesting. She gave good examples of 'running on E.' And she offered suggestions on resolving stress and burn-out that might work.
Definitely makes one think about life. Was not what I was expecting to hear. It was excellent.
Interesting ideas.
Great insights and advice. Good speaker.
This CLE is one of the closest that "hits home" for not only me, but for many other fellow attorneys I know. My spouse feels that she understands where these feelings originate after watching this with me. One of the best so far and highly recommended!
Great seminar! Wonderful insights to put into practice for any lawyer.
I'm going to watch this program again; it was that good!
Great presentation. The most useful CLE I have seen on substance abuse. It also provided so much more than ways to identify and address abuse - it addressed the everyday stress we feel as lawyers head-on and provided practical solutions. Highly recomme
Excellent speaker and program!
good presentation
It was great. I learned a lot that I can apply to my firm!
great presentation. a 'wake up' call for me. informative and insightful.
Great speaker and a great presentation.
Very thought provoking.
I liked the way the speaker incorporated her lessons into her presentation, i.e., she took deep, cleansing breaths every so often.
Liked her mind body approach
Speaker was very good at teaching the importance of calm reflection.
The speaker made a dry subject very interesting. She had a lot of really good insights, and the analogy to taking care of a Ferrari was very clever.
I have never felt so relaxed after a CLE!!!
Good information - really good summary in last 3 minutes
This CLE could not have come at a better time. I am a solo practitioner and I just had a baby. I became overwhelmed and felt like I wasn't doing enough for my clients or enough for my family. I am going to look at the other resources from Ms. Nicol to
Very knowledgeable, sounds like a psychologist but she certainly understands the downfalls of the profession
Great speaker, very calming!
Very practical tools
Enjoyed the speaker. Very helpful
Therapeutic.
I am a avid read of Kim's blog and was very pleased with her course. Thank you.