Member Appreciation Week: Wednesday

Overview of Member Appreciation Week

❱ Throwback Thursday

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eNewsletter that will include an article from the Equity in Justice Program, Senior Lawyers Oral History highlights and recognition of our 25- and 50year attorneys!

❱ REGISTER TOMORROW BY 12 P.M. MT

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❱ Fiesta Friday

Join us for a FREE CLE presentation and social hour! The CLE presentation will by available in person and via webcast. The State Bar Center will host up to 150 in-person attendees. All are welcome to attend the post-presentation reception!

The Tech Never Stops • 2.0 EP

Why does Tik Tok matter to lawyers? Can deep fakes sink our clients? The legal issues with the latest trends in technology impact the world of legal ethics in ways that you might not have considered. In this program national speaker Stuart Teicher (“the CLE Performer”) talks about all of the latest dangers, including:

• Confidentiality and Rule 1.6

• Deception and Rule 8.4

• Supervision, Rules 5.1 and 5.3, and more

Stuart I. Teicher, Esq. is a professional legal educator who focuses on ethics law and writing instruction. A practicing attorney for over two decades, Stuart’s career is now dedicated to helping fellow attorneys survive the practice of law and thrive in the profession.

How to THRIVE – An Inside Out Job

By Pam Moore, LPCC

Get eight hours of sleep. Exercise for at least 20 minutes most days of the week. Eat a healthy diet. Minimize sugar intake. Have strong social support network – connect. Take multiple day vacations away from work more than once per year. Don’t answer work emails after 8 p.m. Laugh more. Reduce stress. Spend time on activities that give you a sense of purpose. I could go on and on, but you get the general idea and you’ve heard these all before. Have you employed them? Did it make a difference in how you feel….on the inside? The reality is that we can do all of these things and from the outside, we look….well, like we’ve “got it together” and are doing great. I’m fine, everything’s good. The answers you get when you ask somebody “How’s it going?” or “Hello, how are you?”.

Truth is, you can do all those things (get eight hours of sleep a night, eat a healthy diet, connect with friends and family, take a vacation, etc.) and still be miserable and struggling on the inside. This is because to feel truly okay, good, fine, great, or dare we say, at peace and confident in your own skin, is an inside job. Looking successful on the outside, by western standards, does not always equal success felt on the inside. So, let’s break this down….

“Success is often defined as the ability to reach your goals in life, whatever those goals may be. In some ways, a better word for success might be attainment, accomplishment, or progress. It is not necessarily a destination but a journey that helps develop the skills and resources you need to thrive.” 1 I love that last sentence that intimates life is a journey and we all, truthfully, walk it alone gathering and employing the skills and resources we need along the way to, not just survive, but thrive…..if we choose.

To me surviving, is basic breathing, going through the mandatory daily motions just to inhabit a body on planet earth. Thriving is deeper, personal, a drive toward a different level of living and starts with awareness that there is more and I want different. On this quest of “How do I thrive?”, questions bubble up from within - what is possible for my life, what experiences do I want to create for myself, what brings me joy, what do I need to let go of to feel at peace, how can I be loved and love more? And, more questions – how can I turn down the volume on the critical voice in my head, am I holding on to guilt or shame that could free me if I chose to let it go, what resentments do I need to surrender, where do I need to shine the light and take responsibility and what could open up for me if I wholeheartedly engaged in this exploration?

Engaging in this type of work is hard and well worth it because your freedom, confidence and inner laughter and playfulness with life are at stake. Doing this type of work is better done with a trusted, non-judgmental person, someone other than by yourself. It’s what you don’t know that you don’t know that stunts your growth and expansion. And, believe it or not, there are blind spots or shadows, i.e. what we don’t see, that we ALL have in our life.

For the last 15 years, an older family member and myself take a short trip once per year. This once-per-year occasion started out as a way to catch up and connect with each other, enjoy good food, shop, relax, enjoy the outdoors, and just get away. What it quickly (within 5 years) turned into is a one-sided (her) gab fest or, as I like to call it….spewing venom. The entire day is spent with her verbalizing all the negative things in her

life currently and past tense. I have heard the same stories over and over again about who wronged her, who is not living life “right,” what somebody did to somebody else, how she tried to be a good partner, daughter, parent, sibling, but the other person was bad or wrong. Then she will turn the attention to herself and beat herself up for not being…..better, stronger, smarter. “I’m so stupid” is a favorite line of hers. It is very hard to hold the space and listen in a compassionate way for a long period of time when you’ve heard the caustic, negative stories multiple times with no movement towards change. Do you know somebody like this? Being around them is exhausting; it sucks the life and joy right out of you.

Me: How does it benefit you to spew venom on the same stories year after year?

Her: It doesn’t.

Me: Then why do you do it?

Her: I don’t know.

Me: How do you feel when we get together and you spew venom all day?

Her: Not good.

Me: Then why do you do it?

Her: Because you are the only one that will listen to me. Honestly, I don’t know.

This family member bottles herself up and puts on a mask until that one time/year when we get together and then a volcano erupts. It makes me sad. Sad that she chooses to live with the anger, anxiety, sadness, fear, guilt, shame, etc. bottled up inside of her and either doesn’t want to or doesn’t know how to start the work of freeing herself from the daily onslaught of pain and suffering. And, it’s not the onslaught of pain and suffering outside of herself, this is an inner voice that destroys, it is the evil monster within that talks to us and about us in a most critical and demeaning way.

So, here is where we get down to the nuts and bolts. Life is not about rainbows and unicorns (feeling happy, happy all the time), but it is also not about evil monsters (feeling bad all the time). We feel a mix of both, usually on a daily basis, and that is normal. Life unfolds in front of us humans and we choose what we make of the situation – how we view it, what we tell ourselves about it, what we let go and what we keep.

You choose your perspective on life, meaning you choose what you tell yourself about your life experiences, and ultimately, this determines how much the monsters affect you. Not IF they affect you, but HOW MUCH. And, how much depends on the inner work you do.

Exploring what you feel, where the feeling came from, your beliefs or story about it (this is really where you have to peel those layers off the onion and get to the core), and asking if you want to hold onto that story or change it (to what serves you better), is most important to shining a light of awareness on “it” (the yuck feeling) and being able to CHOOSE how to move forward. Sometimes moving forward presents as doing nothing, but it can be accepting this is where you are, that all will be okay, and being at peace with that. This too shall pass, and this is a powerful choice.

You have the longest relationship with yourself. Do you know you….really? Can you identify throughout the day what you are feeling and the underlying message behind it? Do you have a perspective on life that serves how you want to show up in the world? Are you that person that looks like you “have it all together” because you get eight hours of sleep at night, exercise for at least 20 minutes most days of the week, eat a healthy diet, have a strong social support network, take multiple day vacations away from work more than once/year, and don’t answer work emails after 8 p.m. …but the inside is very messy? Are you an Outside In person or an Inside Out person?

Success in

Success Is Defined and How You Can Achieve It, by Kendra Cherry, July 2022, Verywellmind.

New Mexico Lawyer Assistance Program Update

Partnered with:

The Solutions Group

❱ Get help and support for yourself, your family, and your employees.

FREE services offered by NM LAP include mental health assessments, and four free counseling sessions per issue/per year/ for ANY mental health, addiction, relationship conflict, anxiety and/or depression issue. All services are offered by a professionally licensed therapist. Other FREE services include management consultation, stress management education, critical incident stress debriefing, video counseling, wellness webinars and 24X7 call center. Providers are located throughout the state.

To access this service call 866-254-3555 and identify with NM LAP. All calls are CONFIDENTIAL.

The Solutions Group Goal:

Our goal is to help employees problem-solve by providing local, licensed providers who offer short-term counseling, assessment and referral services. Unlike national EAPs that provide employees with telephone and online access to counselors, TSG offers personalized, face-to-face, and video counseling sessions with our licensed EAP staff counselors. With TSG, your employees have access to a private, off-site resource where then can go to share their concerns in confidence.

The New Mexico Lawyer Assistance Program

❱ NM LAP has changed its name (formerly the Judges and Lawyers Assistance Program, JLAP) to distinguish itself from the new Judicial Wellness Program!

The NM LAP will continue its focus on confidential, professional, and peer assistance to support the bar and bench. NM LAP endeavors to improve the well-being of lawyers, law students, paralegals, law clerks and all other legal staff through support, education, and early intervention with the goal of ensuring every legal professional is healthy and fit to practice.

State Bar of New Mexico Lawyer Assistance Program

LAP Services:

Professional Assessments

Substance abuse and mental health assessments are available at no cost for law students and all members of the Bar and Bench. Call 505-797-6003 to schedule.

Referrals

If an assessment indicates a need for counseling or treatment, NM LAP will provide the person with information regarding the most appropriate resource(s). NM LAP maintains referral resources across the state and country that include private therapists, physicians and privat-and state-funded treatment facilities.

Peer Assistance

NM LAP volunteers are lawyers and judges committed to providing peer assistance to their colleagues. Most volunteers are individuals who, having received help for their own substance abuse and/or mental health problems, are interested in sharing their experience and supporting their colleagues who face similar challenges. Our volunteers know how important confidentiality is to a legal professional in crisis and are trained to help in a variety of ways: first and foremost – listening, creating a safe non-judgmental space for sharing and providing one-to-one peer support and encouragement.

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Support Groups

Monday Night Support Group: Every Monday night at 5:30 p.m. Zoom only. Email pmoore@sbnm.org or bcheney@dsc-law.com.

❱ Clinical Consultations

Whether you’re concerned about a colleague, a family member, or yourself, a professional counselor and peer assistant are available to listen, share experiences, and discuss options. Don’t worry if you don’t know what’s causing the problem, or even if you’re unsure whether a problem exists; We will explore options with you and initiate an action plan appropriate to the circumstances and the individual in need. Consultations are available by telephone or in person and may even be done anonymously.

❱ Policy and Program Consultations

Drug-Free Workplace programs improve productivity, reduce costs, and help protect employers and employees from the potentially devastating consequences of alcohol/other drug abuse. The foundation of a successful program is a written policy that clearly prohibits alcohol and other drug use in the workplace and encourages employees to voluntarily seek assistance for alcohol/other drug problems. Other program components may include employee education, drug testing, and employee assistance services. For further information, contact the NM LAP administrator at 505-797-6093.

❱ Interventions

Sadly, many individuals don’t seek help for themselves even when they are suffering emotionally and losing control of their lives. Brushing aside concerns or waiting and hoping the person will independently seek help usually guarantees that the problem and its associated consequences will progressively worsen. The earlier an individual receives treatment for a mental health or substance abuse problem, the better their prognosis. Sometimes, it takes only a concerned person willing to speak up to break through the inertia or denial of the impaired professional; other situations require a formal intervention involving several concerned persons (colleagues, friends, relatives). In either scenario, NM LAP is ready to assist.

❱ Reporting Situations Involving Professional Misconduct

Legal professionals are required to inform the appropriate professional authority of violations of the Rules of Professional Conduct when the conduct raises a substantial question as to the individual’s honesty, trustworthiness, or fitness. When substance abuse or mental health is believed to be involved, making a report directly to the NM LAP may be an appropriate alternative to the Disciplinary Board. Doing so provides an important opportunity for professional assistance that might not otherwise occur and may avert civil liability for the reporting professional.

❱ Educational Presentations

NM LAP staff and peers offer presentations for State Bar associations and sections, private firms and legal governmental departments on a variety of topics, including vicarious trauma, substance abuse/ addiction, anxiety and depression and resiliency. Call NM LAP at 505-797-6093 for more information.

❱ Recovery Monitoring

In situations where an individual’s impairment has resulted in ethical, disciplinary or employment problems, NM LAP can provide a monitoring function to assist the recovering impaired professional in demonstrating to the court or employer that he or she is maintaining recovery appropriately. Call or email NM LAP for more information, (505) 797-6093, Tenessa.eakins@sbnm.org.

A Podcast series of the NM Well-Being Committee

About the Podcast

Does self-care and lawyering co-exist? How do I integrate my personal life and legal professional life so that I find meaning and purpose in both? If I start to feel burned out or overwhelmed as a legal professional, would I know? Why does lawyering have some of the highest anxiety, depression and addiction rates vs other professions and what can I do to make sure I stay mentally, emotionally, and physically healthy? How can I be a great lawyer and human being? This legal well-being podcast series will feature leaders of wellness in your community, answer these questions and more!

Tune in to find out how you can be mentally, emotionally, physically, and spiritually strong while being a good lawyer.

“What a Healthy Legal Community

Looks Like”

In 2022, the NM Well-Being Committee will be focusing on the different types of legal communities and asking questions of those communities such as: What does your organization do to create and promote wellbeing for the individual staff members?; What could your organization do better or different?; and What are challenges or barriers to offering wellbeing resources and/or services? Some of the legal communities that we will be focusing on are as follows: Law Office of the Public Defender, UNM School of Law, Paralegals, Solo and Small Firm, large law firms and AG’s Office. These are but a few legal communities in New Mexico.

The goal of 2022’s well-being campaign is to understand the state of well-being in legal organizations, enlist leaders to help define what well-being looks like for their populace, identify priorities for their particular community and measure, evaluate and improve.

The NM Well-Being Committee wants to hear from your legal community or work environment. What health and well-being initiatives are in place where you work? What ideas do you and/or your colleagues have for improvement? What practice, resource or service is in place where you work that you are particularly proud of?

See below for our list of identified areas or communities of practice that will be explored each month in a podcast and Bar Bulletin article. If you would like to contribute to a podcast or Bar Bulletin article about the work environment in your legal community, please email us at well@sbnm.org. We would love to hear from you.

Wellness Member Benefits

Defined Fitness

Defined Fitness offers State Bar members, their employees and immediate family members a discounted rate. Memberships include all club locations and group fitness classes.

Discounts included on Initial sign-up fee, no annual fee, no cancellation fee and no reactivation Fee. Other memberships do require an annual fee and may require a reactivation and cancellation fee.

Locations offer aquatics complex, state-of-the-art equipment and personal training services. Bring proof of State Bar Membership to any Defined Fitness location to sign up. Contact the corporate relations manager at 505-349-4444 or visit www.defined.com.

Confidential Helpline Partnered with The Solutions Group

Get help and support for yourself, your family, and your employees. FREE services offered by NMLAP include mental health assessments, and four free counseling sessions per issue/per year/ for ANY mental health, addiction, relationship conflict, anxiety and/or depression issue. All services are offered by a professionally licensed therapist. Other FREE services include management consultation, stress management education, critical incident stress debriefing, video counseling, wellness webinars and 24X7 call center. Providers are located throughout the state..

To access this service call 866-254-3555 and identify with NMLAP. All calls are CONFIDENTIAL.

Available through The Solutions Group website: https://www.solutionsbiz.com/Pages/default.aspx

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