This registration form is for Tuesday, July 9, Noon–1:00 p.m. ET
This program was also presented on April 22, 2024.
MCLE Credit: | 1.0 |
Live-Interactive Credit: | 1.0 (all dates, all formats) |
Well-Being Credit: | 1.0 |
This program, led by Laurie J. Besden, Esq., Executive Director of Lawyers Concerned for Lawyers of Pennsylvania, Inc., addresses the alarming prevalence rates of substance use and mental health disorders in legal professionals. People in the legal profession are dying because it is too painful to ask for help. This must stop.
This course dispels the stigma associated with mental health, which is a roadblock to legal professionals reaching out for help. It provides a comprehensive overview of risk factors and symptoms of depression, compelling reasons detailing why attorneys with depression should seek help, and intervention strategies for attorneys with colleagues in need of support. Finally, the presentation outlines the confidential, free, safe, and supportive resources that are available through lawyers’ assistance programs throughout the United States.
Registration Deadlines:
Webcast: | 10 minutes prior to seminar. If you register for a webcast the day of the seminar, your e-mail receipt will include a link to launch the seminar and download the materials. |
Telephone: | Online registration ends at 11:59 p.m. the day preceding the seminar |
Cancellation Policy: Cancellation/transfer requests will be honored until 5:00 p.m. the day preceding the seminar. You will, however, be charged $40 if you cancel or transfer your registration to a different seminar after the link to the materials has been e-mailed by Virginia CLE®.
Full refunds or transfers are available up to two days after a webcast in the unlikely event that you experience technical difficulties.
Inclement Weather Policy and Updates.
MCLE Credit Caveat: The MCLE Board measures credits by the time you spend in attendance. If you enter a seminar late or leave it early, or both, you must reflect those adjustments accurately in the credits you report on your credit reporting form. A code will be given at the end of the seminar, which must be written on your MCLE form.
Can’t Attend?
E-mail distance_ed@vacle.org to be notified when/if this program is made available as an online or USB seminar.
E-mail publications@vacle.org to be notified when/if this program’s seminar materials are made available for sale.
12:00 | Depression: An Occupational Hazard of the Legal Profession |
1:00 | Adjourn |
Laurie Besden, Lawyers Concerned for Lawyers of Pennsylvania, Inc.
Laurie Besden is the Executive Director of Lawyers Concerned for Lawyers of Pennsylvania, Inc. (LCL PA). She served as its Deputy Executive Director, overseeing its Helpline operations, serving as primary contact for intervention requests, expanding its law school outreach, and increasing LCL PA’s presence within the organized bench and bar, from 2011–2015. After becoming LCL PA’s Executive Director in 2015, she continued to serve in most of these capacities and assumed responsibility for the organization’s administrative and financial operations, as well as its judges’ assistance program (Judges Concerned for Judges).
Ms. Besden is a licensed attorney in Pennsylvania (1999) and New Jersey (1999). She practiced law from 1999 through 2001 and 2009–2011 in several capacities including:
Ms. Besden received her B.A. in Criminology and Criminal Justice from the University of Maryland, College Park, MD (1995) and her J.D. from the Dickinson School of Law of the Pennsylvania State University (1999).
Ms. Besden was the 2015 recipient of the Montgomery Bar Association’s Henry Stuckert Miller Award for her dedication to public service in the legal profession and the 2019 recipient of Caron’s Legal Professional/Uniformed Public Service Award for the Greater Philadelphia Region.