individual lawyers and the profession as a whole can work together to
reduce the deleterious practices in which some lawyers engage and to
elevate the countless positive contributions legal professionals provide to
society.
We added a new session this year, focusing on lawyer well-being and
based on the National Task Force on Lawyer Well-Being’s 2017 report
entitled, “The Path to Lawyer Well-Being: Practical Recommendations
for Positive Change.”2 As the syllabus describes:
The ABA recently issued a report “emphasizing that well-being is an
indispensable part of a lawyer’s duty of competence.” 3 This session will examine
key components of professional and personal well-being for legal professionals.
It will explore various challenges lawyers may face in maintaining their
physical, mental, and emotional health; as well as strategies to enhance your
personal and professional well-being throughout your legal career.
Professor Tammy Oltz organized a panel for this session including:
• Judge Ralph Erickson, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth
Circuit,
• Penny Miller, clerk of the North Dakota Supreme Court,
secretary-treasurer of the State Board of Law Examiners, and
secretary of the Disciplinary Board of the Supreme Court,
• Anna Dearth, attorney and UND School of Law alumna, and
• Jodi Ramberg, staff counselor at the UND Counseling Center
and substance abuse prevention coordinator at the UND
Wellness Center.
The students provided positive feedback, such as this excerpt from a
student email:
Call for Mentors: To sign up for the UND School
of Law’s Professional Foundations Mentoring
Session on Wednesday, April 1, 2020, please visit:
https://www.sband.org/events/event_list.asp.
and the judiciary including:
• Judge Alvin Boucher, Grand Forks Municipal Court,
• Judge Alice Senechal, U.S. Magistrate Judge,
• Judge Jim Hovey, North Dakota District Court,
• SheraLynn Ternes, Assistant Cass County State’s Attorney,
former supreme court clerk,
• Conor Smith, U.S. District Court Clerk, former Supreme
Court clerk,
• Morgan Croaker, Serkland Law Firm, former Supreme Court
clerk, and
• Sarah Aaberg, O'Keeffe, O'Brien, Lyson & Foss, former
Supreme Court clerk.
Moreover, the law students provided overwhelmingly positive
feedback about the mentoring program initiated this year, where
more than 60 members of the legal profession volunteered to meet
in one-on-one sessions with two law students to discuss their
resumes and Roadmap documents outlining their plans for their
remaining law school experiences. We were extremely grateful to
the mentors, some of whom travelled great distances, who engaged
in enriching dialogues with their mentees, and many continued
interacting with law students and colleagues during the reception
afterwards.
I wanted to reach out to you all and say how great I thought today’s panel was
on well-being… I thought the entire panel was AMAZING and could have
stayed much longer to listen to each person’s insights… Thank you so much for
this experience.
In addition to strategies for maintaining physical, mental, and emotional
well-being, the panel addressed challenges prevalent in the legal
profession such as stress, mental illness, including anxiety and depression,
and alcohol and drug abuse. The speakers highlighted that these issues
frequently emerge in law school and emphasized the importance of
seeking help, noting the primacy of making and implementing a plan
to overcome these problems, and that doing so can reflect positively on
candidates seeking admission to the bar instead of posing a barrier.
Other sessions featuring guest speakers exposed students to
different career paths in addition to underscoring the importance of
professionalism and civility as fundamental components of the twelve
core professional qualities. These sessions included Peter Welte, nominee
to the U.S. District Court for the District of North Dakota, discussing
law firm practice, as well as panels on trial lawyers including:
• Judge Shon Hastings, U.S. Bankruptcy Court,
• Justice Jon Jensen, North Dakota Supreme Court,
• Jennifer Puhl, Office of the U.S. Attorney,
• Bruce Quick, Vogel Law Firm,
• Mike Williams, Maring Williams Law Office,
• Peter Zuger, Serkland Law Firm,
Law students and professionals take part in a mentorship program
as part of ProfFound.
Finally, on behalf of the entire law school community, we offer our
deepest appreciation to everyone in SBAND for your support –
not only through Professional Foundations, but also in a myriad
other ways, such as externships, jobs, coaching/judging trial team
and moot court, mentoring students and graduates, attending law
school events, donating to student scholarships and other financial
assistance for the law school, encouraging prospective students
to apply, and expressing support for maintaining a strong UND
School of Law to the North Dakota Legislative Assembly. Many
thanks!
1. Associate Dean, UND School of Law.
2. National Task Force on Lawyer Well-Being, “The Path to Lawyer Well-Being: Practical
Recommendations for Positive Change,” https://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/
administrative/professional_responsibility/lawyer_well_being_report_final.pdf (Aug. 14, 2017).
3. National Task Force on Lawyer Well-Being, https://www.americanbar.org/groups/
professional_responsibility/task_force_lawyer_wellbeing/ (Feb. 7, 2018).
SUMMER 2019
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