January 27, 2020

The Illinois Supreme Court Commission on Professionalism is pleased to announce the launch of a free online CLE on lawyer resiliency. The Resilient Lawyer explores how daily challenges can test lawyer resiliency and demonstrates why developing a resilient mindset can help manage those challenges.

“Resiliency is defined as the ability to quickly recover from or adjust easily to adversity or change, which occurs frequently in the high-pressure legal profession. Surprisingly, research has shown that lawyers are typically less resilient than the general population,” said Dan Davies, Education Manager at the Commission on Professionalism. “A lack of resiliency can lead to behaviors that impact the long-term well-being of lawyers. The strategies explored in this course are designed to help build lawyer resiliency while offering an opportunity for attorneys to reflect on how they react to stressful situations.”

The Resilient Lawyer is available on the Commission on Professionalism’s website. Attorneys who complete the CLE are eligible to receive 0.5 hours of mental health and substance abuse CLE credit in Illinois.

How The Resilient Lawyer can help
The interactive 30-minute eLearning asks participants to follow one of two lawyers through their workday as they’re confronted with difficult decisions that test their resiliency.

During the course, attorneys will (1) connect the unique challenges of the legal profession to behaviors associated with low lawyer resiliency, (2) identify personal strengths and weaknesses through a resiliency self-assessment and (3) understand how developing the building blocks of resiliency can help improve well-being and productivity.

The Resilient Lawyer was developed in partnership with the Illinois Lawyers Assistance Program. It’s the fifth free online CLE provided by the Commission on Professionalism. Courses on incivility, diversity, and ethics and professionalism in the legal profession are also available on the Commission’s website.