Advocating for Attorney Wellbeing

Libby is also a long-time advocate and speaker on the issue of attorney well-being and worked to form the first-ever Attorney Wellbeing Subcommittee at the New York State Bar Association. Ms. C was also a contributing member of NYSBA’s Working Group for Mental Health which successfully advocated for the removal of mental health screening questions for admission to the New York State bar in 2019.

In 2020, Libby and her colleague, Dr. Kerry Murray O’Hara, PsyD, hosted the first-ever 5-part Attorney Wellbeing Podcast for NYSBA which focused on the foundations of the attorney suffering and methods to begin to shift change. When the COVID-19 shutdown began, Ms. Clark and Dr. O’Hara developed a confidential, weekly Zoom gathering solely focused on well-being impacts to the lives of lawyers. The Lawyer-to-Lawyer Well-Being Roundtable

met for 54 free sessions between 2020 and 2021 in which lawyers collectively shared fears and concerns about depression, anxiety, court closures, racial injustice, political upheaval – but ultimately obtained skills for their lives, tools for their practices and a sense of belong-ing. She is the author of several articles on attorney well-being including, Attorney Wellness: The Science of Stress and the Road to Well-Being (with Dr. O’Hara) (NYSBA Bar Journal, Oct. 2018) and Never Alone: Addiction, Recovery & Community (NYSBA Bar Journal, Dec. 2018). During the same period, Libby also co-chaired the 85-member NYSBA Attorney Wellbeing Task Force which released its 175-page landmark report on October 30, 2021 after unanimous acceptance by the House of Delegates. She has been interviewed by national publications on issues facing lawyers and their well-being including law.com, the New York Law Journal, Bloomberg Law, and the American Bar Association’s Bar Leader. Ms. Clark, along with Dr. O’Hara, are nationally recognized speakers and workshop leaders in lawyer well-being, specifically advocating for culture change and teaching skills for the rehumanizing of law and its lawyers. More Information about attorney wellness offerings from Libby and Kerry can be found at here.

Recent Presentations

Workplace Wellbeing: The Future of Work Series (WMHT/PBS Television, 2021)

Rehumanizing Organizations through Employee Wellbeing (Albany Law School, 2021)

Finding the Compassion Balance: Mindful Lawyering and Vicarious Trauma (NYSBA CLE 2020)

Mindful Lawyering in Challenging Times (NYSBA CLE 2020)

Managing Difficult Conversations (NYSBA Women on the Move 2017)

Empowered Conversations (Northeast NY Employee Assistance Professionals Association 2016)

Mindful Practice, Mindful Life, (NYSBA, LAP Annual Retreat 2015)

Mindful Leadership, Leadership Saratoga, Saratoga Springs (annually since 2013)