Power Hours 2024: Ethics and Mental Health - ON-DEMAND

**This event is for the ON-DEMAND training. The Live event took place on Friday, January 26, 2024.**

2 hours CLE credit - 1 hour Ethics/Professional Responsibility & 1 hour Substance Abuse/Mental Health Awareness.

3:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. News and Views from the State Bar

This session will include a review of recent ethics opinions and proposed amendments to the ethics rules and will update attorneys on current challenges in the practice of law. Topics will include the amendments to Rule 1.19(no sex with a client), Rule 1.9(c) (confidentiality owed to former clients), and the proposed amendment to Rule 1.8(e) that creates a humanitarian exception. Topics will also include Confidentiality Clause that Restricts a Lawyer's Right to Practice, Sale or Closure of a Law Practice, and Proper Handling of Aged Client Files, and Artificial Intelligence.

Presenter:

Nichole P. McLaughlin has been employed as a staff attorney with the North Carolina State Bar since June 2004. Originally from New Jersey, she graduated from Drew University with a B.A. in English. She obtained her J.D. from Seton Hall University School of Law. As Assistant Ethics Counsel, she gives informal ethics advice to lawyers about their own future conduct via telephone or email, prepares formal ethics opinions, and advises the Ethics Committee. Nichole is also the Judicial District Bar Liaison, a role created to improve communication between the State Bar and judicial district bars. Nichole has also taught Professional Responsibility at North Carolina Central School of Law. Prior to joining the Bar, she was in private practice for five years with Donaldson & Black, P.A. in Greensboro, and handled asbestos workers’ comp cases. In 2021, Nichole became an Adjunct Professor at North Carolina Central University School of Law and teaches Professional Responsibility with a Technology Focus.

4:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. – Compassion Fatigue – The Price We Pay as Problem Solvers

Compassion fatigue has been widely studied in social workers and first responders to crisis situations. New ground-breaking research has revealed the impact of this condition on those working in the legal profession. Given that compassion fatigue is akin to burn out, this program resonates deeply for lawyers from all practice areas. This program focuses on the condition itself, the brain science behind it, why and how lawyers may find themselves vulnerable to it, and how to mitigate it.

Presenter:

John Baley is a graduate of NCCU's evening law program and WCU's clinical psychology program. He maintains a limited private practice as an attorney in Asheville focusing on Estates, Trust, and Elder Law. He is a member of the Buncombe Country Bar Association. In addition to his law practice, he works as a clinical psychologist for NC DHHS and a variety of community agencies. John Baley has served as a volunteer with the Lawyer Assistance Program (LAP) for over 3 years.

All registration fees benefit The Mediation Center.