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Lawyers in Crisis: Recognizing and Responding to Lawyer Impairment (On-Demand)

Substance Abuse Credits:
Original Date Of Course:

$129.00

Course Description

Substance use disorders and mental health challenges can affect any attorney regardless of gender, culture, ethnicity, age, or socioeconomic status. This program, taught by seasoned attorneys Laurie Besden and Tracy Kepler, instructs attorneys on how to recognize the impaired professional, provides various resources to assist in recovery and identifies the possible disciplinary implications of impaired attorneys’ conduct. Ms. Besden will share her personal journey from the darkness and depths of despair in struggling with a substance use disorder as a licensed attorney, to her path of long-term recovery, where she received a full Governor’s Pardon in 2020.

Syllabus

  1. Explore substance use disorders and mental health challenges such as medical diagnoses and how their prevalence rates affect the legal professional – as told by one of the presenters, who is in long-term recovery, herself
  2. Identify warning signs of, and learn how to begin the conversation with an impaired attorney
  3. Discern the interface between potential attorney disciplinary action and impairment as well as possible reporting obligations
  4. Identify confidential, safe, free, and supportive resources available to the impaired legal professional, their family members, and their colleagues
  5. Apply wellness tips that attorneys can apply in daily life, without much effort, that will positively impact mental health, in both the personal and professional realms

Credit Details

Course Type

Course Instructor

Laurie J. Besden, Esq., Tracy Kepler, Esq.
Original Date Of Course

Substance Abuse Credits

1
Laurie J. Besden, Esq.
Laurie J. Besden, Esq.
Laurie J. Besden, Esq. is a licensed attorney in Pennsylvania and New Jersey who has practiced law in various capacities, including as an attorney-at-law and law clerk for the Pennsylvania Superior Court and Philadelphia Municipal Court. She holds a B.A. in Criminology and Criminal Justice from the University of Maryland, College Park and a J.D. from The Dickinson School of Law of the Pennsylvania State University, and currently serves as Executive Director of Lawyers Concerned for Lawyers of Pennsylvania, Inc.
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Tracy Kepler, Esq.
Tracy Kepler, Esq.
Tracy Kepler, Esq. serves as Risk Control Consulting Director for CNA's Lawyers Insurance Program, where she designs risk control initiatives for law practices and collaborates with underwriting and claims teams on program strategy. She previously directed the American Bar Association's Center for Professional Responsibility, served as an Associate Solicitor at the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office handling attorney disciplinary matters, and spent fourteen years as Senior Litigation Counsel for the Illinois Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission investigating and prosecuting attorney misconduct.
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