Name: New Lawyer, Strong Start: Managing Stress and Building Resilience
Uploaded: 2026-02-24T09:00:00-08:00
Description: This presentation, delivered by an attorney turned therapist in training, will offer real world tools to build a sustainable career. We’ll explore common stressors for early-career attorneys and provide practical strategies to manage anxiety, prevent burnout, and apply mindfulness-based approaches to resilience and professional growth.

Justia Connect Webinars New Lawyer, Strong Start: Managing Stress and Building Resilience

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Overview AI Webinar Summary

New Lawyer, Strong Start: Managing Stress and Building Resilience

This presentation, delivered by an attorney turned therapist in training, will offer real world tools to build a sustainable career. We’ll explore common stressors for early-career attorneys and provide practical strategies to manage anxiety, prevent burnout, and apply mindfulness-based approaches to resilience and professional growth.

Topics covered include:

Attorney Wellness Law Practice Legal Ethics

Agenda:

Understanding Stress in the Legal Profession

Explore common stressors for new lawyers; normalize the experience and discuss impact on performance and wellbeing.

Recognizing Pitfalls & Building a Foundation

Discuss common habits or mindsets that lead to overwhelm or burnout and ways to reframe them.

Tools for Managing Stress, Anxiety & Burnout

Introduce and guide through evidence-based tools such as the 3 Ms (Mindset, Movement and Mindfulness).

Applying Real-World Strategies

Case examples and guided reflection on how to integrate wellness tools into daily practice.

Takeaways & Closing

Summarize key points, share resources, and invite ongoing self-reflection and community connection.

Duration of this webinar: 60 minutes

Originally broadcast: February 24, 2026 9:00 AM PT

Webinar Highlights

This webinar is divided into section summaries, which you can scan for key points and then dive into the sections that interest you the most.

00:00 Introduction

Karen Munoz, the speaker, is introduced as a seasoned attorney and wellness educator, focusing on mindfulness and resilience in the legal field. Karen shares her goal to guide new lawyers through the challenges of their first year, emphasizing the importance of growth and overcoming feelings of isolation. She acknowledges the discomfort of starting a new career and reassures that experienced professionals have faced similar challenges.

04:47 Challenges for New Lawyers

Karen discusses the adaptation to different legal environments and the common stressors faced by new lawyers. She shares her personal experience with unhealthy coping mechanisms, such as drinking, prevalent in legal culture. Karen outlines the internal and external stressors in the legal profession, such as time constraints, isolation, and adversarial processes. The adversarial nature of law can lead to black-and-white thinking, contributing to negativity and pessimism. Karen explains how lawyers are trained to spot issues, which can lead to a problem-focused mindset in personal and professional life.

18:09 Building Resilience and Coping Strategies

Karen advises new lawyers to embrace the learning process and accept that feeling out of depth is normal. She encourages asking questions and seeking feedback to improve skills and understanding. Karen highlights the importance of clear communication and proactive problem-solving in legal practice. She suggests observing experienced attorneys and adapting to workplace culture to enhance professional growth. Karen emphasizes learning from mistakes and viewing them as opportunities for growth rather than failures.

35:43 Developing Strong Habits

Karen stresses the importance of developing strong habits, including adequate sleep, regular exercise, and healthy eating. She highlights the significance of building supportive relationships and maintaining a balanced lifestyle. Karen advises prioritizing self-care to sustain a long-term career in law. She encourages lawyers to seek support from therapists or support groups to manage stress and anxiety.

44:48 Mindset and Mindfulness

Karen discusses the importance of mindset in managing stress and building resilience. She advises challenging negative thoughts and recognizing successes to combat self-doubt. Mindfulness helps create distance from immediate reactions, allowing for more objective responses. Karen suggests focusing on positive aspects of daily life to build resilience and maintain a balanced perspective. She emphasizes the need for psychological flexibility to handle setbacks and stress effectively.

Please note this AI-generated summary provides a general overview of the webinar but may not capture all details, nuances, or the exact words of the speaker. For complete accuracy, please refer to the original webinar recording.

Speaker

Karen Munoz Founder
Roaring Grace

Karen Munoz is a seasoned plaintiff’s attorney, wellness educator, and the founder of Roaring Grace, a legal wellness consultancy dedicated to helping lawyers thrive. After nearly two decades practicing trauma-informed law, Karen is now pursuing a master’s in psychology with a focus on integrating mindfulness, resilience, and emotional intelligence into the legal field. Through her work as a speaker, yoga teacher, and educator, she brings a unique perspective on what it means to be both a strong advocate and a healthy human being in the legal world.

Continuing Legal Education (CLE) Credits

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Alabama CLE

Status: Approved

Credits: 1.00 Ethics

Earn Credit Until: December 31, 2026

Alaska CLE

Status: Approved

Credits: 1.00 Ethics

Earn Credit Until: February 23, 2031

California CLE

Status: Approved

Credits: 1.00 Wellness Competence

Earn Credit Until: June 30, 2026

Hawaii CLE

Status: Approved

Credits: 1.00 Ethics

Earn Credit Until: February 23, 2028

Illinois CLE

Status: Approved

Credits: 1.00 Professional Responsibility - Mental Health / Substance Abuse

Earn Credit Until: February 23, 2028

Nebraska CLE

Status: Approved

Credits: 1.00 Professional Responsibility

Earn Credit Until: February 24, 2028

New Jersey CLE

Status: Approved

Credits: 1.20 Ethics/Professionalism

Earn Credit Until: February 23, 2027

Ohio CLE

Status: Approved

Credits: 1.00 Attorney Professional Conduct

Earn Credit Until: December 31, 2026

Pennsylvania CLE

Status: Approved

Credits: 1.00 Ethics, Professionalism, or Substance Abuse

Earn Credit Until: February 23, 2028

South Carolina CLE

Status: Approved

Credits: 1.00 Substance Abuse/Mental Health

Difficulty: All Levels

Earn Credit Until: December 31, 2026

Texas CLE

Status: Approved

Credits: 1.00 Legal Ethics/Professional Responsibility

Earn Credit Until: January 31, 2027

West Virginia CLE

Status: Approved

Credits: 1.20 Legal Ethics, etc.

Earn Credit Until: December 31, 2029

This presentation is approved for one hour of Ethics CLE credit in Alabama, one hour of Ethics CLE credit in Alaska, one hour of Wellness Competence CLE credit in California, one hour of Ethics CLE credit in Hawaii, one hour of Professional Responsibility - Mental Health / Substance Abuse CLE credit in Illinois, one hour of Professional Responsibility CLE credit in Nebraska, one hour of Attorney Professional Conduct CLE credit in Ohio, one hour of Ethics, Professionalism, or Substance Abuse CLE credit in Pennsylvania, one hour of Substance Abuse/Mental Health CLE credit in South Carolina (all levels), and one hour of Legal Ethics, etc. CLE credit in West Virginia. This program has been approved by the Board on Continuing Legal Education of the Supreme Court of New Jersey for 1.20 hours of total CLE credit. Of these, 1.20 qualify as total hours of credit for Ethics/Professionalism. This course has been approved for Minimum Continuing Legal Education credit by the State Bar of Texas Committee on MCLE in the amount of 1.00 credit hours, of which 1.00 credit hours will apply to Legal Ethics/Professional Responsibility credit.

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