This program is eligible for 1 hour of CLE credit in 60-minute states. In 50-minute states, this program is eligible for 1.2 hours of CLE credit. Credit hours are estimated and are subject to each state’s approval and credit rounding rules.
Overview
Many articles, seminars, and well-meaning professionals warn lawyers against the dangers of so-called "compassion fatigue." The reason for this is clear: lawyers frequently put the needs and interests of clients first and may find themselves struggling to meet their own needs. The problem with this term, though, is that compassion is not the real problem. To the contrary, compassion may be one of the potential solutions.
In this session, you'll learn that the real term for the problem so many people want lawyers to know about is "empathic overwhelm." This session will help you understand the critical differences between empathy and compassion and how those differences can have major consequences for your life and law practice. Lawyer, author, mindfulness and compassion teacher, and founder of the Brilliant Legal Mind blog, Claire E. Parsons will teach you practices so you can cultivate compassion, avoid overwhelm, and better manage the stresses of law practice and life.
In this course, Claire Parsons will:
- Review ethical obligations for attorneys which include mental health management and self-care in order to attend to client matters
- Identify critical distinctions between compassion and empathy, both in terms of lived experiences and health consequences, as they relate to law practice
- Explore the ways that empathic overwhelm (commonly misidentified as compassion fatigue) frequently create impediments for those in the legal profession
- Discuss the role that compassion cultivation can have for improving outcomes for attorneys, their teams, and their clients
- Identify practices to cultivate compassion, including self-compassion, which can mitigate empathic overwhelm in law practice
What your colleagues are saying about Parson’s program on Empathic Overwhelm:
Thought it might be a bit of fluff. It was not. Dynamic speaker.
Loved it down to the breathing exercises!
Presenter was knowledgeable and able to provide real life/real world examples to pair material with.
One of the best courses on this program!
Recorded in February 2025.
Faculty
Claire E. Parsons, Esq.
Claire E. Parsons is a practicing lawyer, certified meditation, mindfulness, and compassion teacher, mom, and prolific writer. Claire started the blog, brilliantlegalmind.com, to share her experience with mindfulness in a practical (and sometimes humorous) voice to help other lawyers and professionals. Her goal is to make mindfulness and meditation enjoyable, accessible, and practical for bus lawyers and professionals. Claire is an attorney in the Cincinnati area. She has practices in the areas of civil litigation, employment law, school law, and municipal law. Claire is an active leader in her community and in the legal profession. Claire currently serves on the wellness committees for her law firm and state and local bar associations. She is also guides meditation for fellow lawyers for the Mindfulness in Law Society’s Virtual Sits and the founder of the MILS Greater Cincinnati Chapter. Claire is a frequent writer and speaker on a wide range of topics. She has published and spoken about legal topics, as well as mindfulness and wellness for lawyers and professionals. Claire is a frequent CLE presenter and has at least one CLE for credit available to watch on-demand on Lawline. She writes regularly on LinkedIn and co-authored a bestselling book in 2020 with 19 other women lawyers. In 2022, Claire published her first book, How to Be a Badass Lawyer: The Unexpected and Simple Guide to Less Stress and Greater Personal Development Through Mindfulness and Compassion. She is also the author of the children’s book, Mommy Needs a Minute. Claire is currently serving as general editor for a legal treatise to be published in 2024. Meditation helped Claire find success and balance in law practice. Early on, though, she struggled with overthinking, anxiety, and depression. Claire began meditating after recovering from a difficult first pregnancy with her oldest daughter, Sophie. Though she started with 1-minute sessions, mindfulness practice changed her life. Meditation even helped her find courage to network, develop business, and grow her law practice. Over the next several years, she continued to study meditation and attend retreats. Claire has been meditating for a decade and has more than 1000 hours of training in mindfulness, yoga, compassion, and mental health. In 2020, Claire completed the meditation teacher certification program with The Mindfulness Center founded by Deborah Norris, Ph.D., to refine her understanding of the science of mindfulness and its practical applications. She then completed the 500-hour yoga teacher training offered by My Vinyasa Practice. In 2022, Claire completed the Compassion Educator Certificate Program offered by the Compassion Education Alliance. More recently, she obtained a certification in pranayama to facilitate breathwork instruction. Though Claire is not a licensed mental health provider or trauma healer, she is trained in trauma-informed yoga and mindfulness, neurodiversity-informed mindfulness, and somatic healing. Claire is also certified as a Mental Health Ally by SHRM and a Mental Health First Aider from Mental Health First Aid USA.
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