Nobody Told Me There’d Be Days Like These: Stress, Pressure and Ethical Decision-Making in the Practice of Law 

Entertaining, unique and practical seminar featuring original short films by ReelTime CLE to satisfy your ethics credit requirement!

Originally presented:  December 11, 2018     |     Course length:  3.0 hours

This engaging, highly interactive workshop provides a fresh and practical perspective on the fundamental question: Why do “good” lawyers “go bad” and breach obvious, well-defined ethical obligations? It happens. A lot. Even to our own friends and colleagues at the bar.

Vignettes from an original short film, written and produced by ReelTime CLE, serve as the catalyst for a practical and informative consideration of the intersection of ethical decision-making and the manifold sources of stress encountered by lawyers in managing the day-to-day practice of law.

Attendees will learn how to:

1. Guard against ethical missteps by better understanding the complex interplay of various factors that can contribute to them.
   
2. Explore the roles of stress, core values, organizational “culture,” and cumulative choices in the ethical decision-making process.
   
3. Manage your practice to better navigate the inevitable tension between personal and professional pressures.
   
4. Implement best practices for setting and managing client expectations (particularly with regard to workload, the need for the client’s cooperation, expected costs, and the range of possible outcomes in the litigation process).
   
5. Identify and implement sustainable strategies for minimizing the negative effects of stress and pressure in the practice of law.
   

– Chris Osborn
Lawyer – Producer – Presenter
ReelTime CLE; Charlotte, North Carolina