On November 17th, 22nd, and 30th, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Standing Committee on Lawyer Well-Being is hosting town halls exclusive to Massachusetts law students and lawyers up to two years post-grad.
Throughout the end of November, the Massachusetts SJC Standing Committee on Lawyer Well-Being is hosting Town Halls to learn more about all the well-being challenges that Massachusetts law students face. Law students and very recent graduates (0-2 years post-grad) are invited to sign up through the links below to attend one or more sessions on the following dates/times:
Each session is open to all law students from across the state. These sessions are not categorized by region or school.
The third town hall on Nov. 30 will be specifically dedicated to hearing from students who are members of identity-based law student affinity groups or who are members of underrepresented or marginalized groups, or both. This is to focus on the specific challenges and added stressors that underrepresented and marginalized students face with respect to their well-being.
Whether or not you attend a session, you can anonymously submit feedback/experiences outside of the sessions by completing this anonymous survey about your experiences: https://forms.gle/n4BVw61j7EQHCCoc8.
No professors or school administrators will be invited to the meetings, and all insights shared will be anonymized to the extent possible in any reporting regarding these meetings and will not be attributed to any attendee. The goal of these sessions is not for the Committee to tell law students of the Commonwealth what their challenges are or how it’s planning to respond, but for the Committee to really hear from students about their own lived experiences and challenges, so that its members are better equipped to ensure that the individual and collective well-being challenges faced by students are reflected in the Committee’s ongoing work to improve the lives of legal professionals throughout the Commonwealth.
In 2020, the Supreme Judicial Court Standing Committee on Lawyer Well-Being hosted a number of Town Hall meetings with members of 7 Massachusetts affinity bar associations, which resulted in the publication of the Committee’s Report Summarizing Affinity Bar Town Hall Meetings in February of 2021. This Report has already had a significant impact in challenging legal institutions throughout the Commonwealth to address the lived experiences of lawyers from underrepresented populations here in Massachusetts, and the Committee has held further Town Hall meetings in 2021 following the release of the Report, including with lawyers and law students with disabilities.
Related:
Mental Health Day: Updated Resources for Law Students in Massachusetts (LCLMA Blog, 2021)
Free & Confidential Consultations:
Lawyers, law students, and judges in Massachusetts can discuss concerns with a licensed therapist, law practice advisor, or both. Find more on scheduling here.
