ETHICS CLE – When Lawyers Need Help: Supporting Colleagues While Protecting Clients*

ETHICS CLE – When Lawyers Need Help: Supporting Colleagues While Protecting Clients*

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Legal practice is demanding, high-pressure, and often isolating. At times, lawyers, judges, and legal professionals may find themselves struggling — whether due to substance use, emotional distress, burnout, mental-health challenges, personal instability, a health crisis or family problems. While the causes may differ, the professional stakes are the same: competence, judgment, and ethical obligations must be preserved.

This panel examines how the legal profession can responsibly support practitioners who need help while maintaining professional standards and client protection. Panelists will discuss the ethical framework surrounding impairment and competence, the role of colleagues and supervisors when concerns arise, and the resources available through lawyer-assistance programs and professional organizations.

The conversation will focus on practical realities: how to recognize when help is needed, how to intervene constructively, how to seek assistance without unnecessary stigma, and how organizations can respond in ways that protect both individuals and the integrity of legal practice. The goal is to strengthen the profession’s ability to respond to human challenges without compromising professional responsibility.

NOTE: We will seek ethics credit for this CLE hour. More information to follow. 

Survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/ETHICS-CLE-When-Lawyers-Need-Help

Materials

1. When Lawyers Need Help: Supporting Colleagues While Protecting Clients
2. 37 CFR 11.30: Participation in the USPTO Diversion Program
3. USPTO’s Office of Enrollment and Discipline Diversion Program
4. PowerPoint: Protecting Clients While Supporting Colleagues