1 Hour MCLE; 1 Competency Issues. Presented by the CLA Health and Wellness Committee

Resilience is a critical resource for lawyers that has become even more important during the COVID pandemic. The field of positive psychology provides the foundation for many activities that can be incorporated into every-day life (even during quarantine) to foster well-being and bolster positive emotions to promote resilience and preserve mental health during this difficult time. Join this webinar to learn about 5 practical strategies to promote and preserve well-being that are easy to incorporate into even busy lawyers’ lives.

Moderator: Sara Rief, CLA Health and Wellness Committee Chair

Speakers: Anne Brafford & Martha Knudson

Anne Brafford served as the Editor-in-Chief for the Task Force Report on Lawyer Well-Being. Anne is the Chairperson of the American Bar Association Law Practice Division’s Attorney Well-Being Committee. She is a founding member of Aspire, an educational and consulting firm for the legal profession (www.aspire.legal). In 2014, Anne left her job as an equity partner at Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP after 18 years of practice to focus on thriving in the legal profession.

Anne has earned a Master’s degree in Applied Positive Psychology (MAPP) from the University of Pennsylvania and now is a PhD student in positive organizational psychology at Claremont Graduate University (CGU). Anne’s research focuses on lawyer thriving and includes topics like positive leadership, resilience, work engagement, meaningful work, motivation, and retention of women lawyers. She also is an Assistant Instructor in the MAPP program for Dr. Martin Seligman and, for two years, was a Teaching Assistant at CGU for Dr. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, the co founders of positive psychology. Look for her upcoming book to be published this fall by the American Bar Association’s Law Practice Division called Positive Professionals: Creating High-Performing, Profitable Firms Through The Science of Engagement. It provides practical, science-backed advice on boosting work engagement for lawyers. https://lawyerwellbeing.net/dt_team/anne-brafford/

Martha Knudson is the Executive Director of the Utah State Bar’s Well-Being Committee for the Legal Profession working with Utah’s judges, lawyers, and law students to enhance engagement, performance, resilience, and overall well-being. As part of her role, she also advises researchers at the University of Utah conducting empirical research of lawyers and law students in the western United States.

Prior to working in the well-being field, Martha practiced law for almost 18 years. She earned her law degree in 1999, graduating magna cum laude. After passing the bar Martha became a litigator in private law-firm practice where she rose to the rank of shareholder. She later became General Counsel of a leading real estate management company where she was provided legal over-site on all aspects of the company’s national operations, advised leadership, and worked with the messy reality of keeping a business and its people thriving.

In 2015, Martha earned a master’s degree in Applied Positive Psychology from The University of Pennsylvania where she has since served as an Assistant Instructor to the graduate program. Martha also works with private clients and regularly speaks and publishes articles on well-being in the law. She recently contributed a chapter in the book The Best Lawyer You Can Be: A Guide to Physical, Mental, Emotional, and Spiritual Wellness.