Drawing the Line: Setting Client Boundaries in the Digital Age (Virtual)

ONLINE REGISTRATION INCLUDED BELOW
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Event Description

This one-hour CLE presentation will explore the growing challenges attorneys face in maintaining professional boundaries with clients in an always-connected world. Attorneys face constant stress and anxiety with client connectivity. With texting, email, social media, client portals, and mobile devices creating expectations of constant access, lawyers must balance responsiveness with ethical obligations, professionalism, and personal well-being. Lawyers must set boundaries regarding communication lest their mental health and well-being suffer.
The program will address practical strategies for managing communication expectations, protecting confidentiality, avoiding burnout, and reducing risk related to after-hours contact and informal digital communications. Attendees will learn best practices for communication policies to create healthy and ethical attorney-client relationships.

In this program Mr. Mitsch will discuss:

1. The pressures of constant access and the potential ill effects on the attorney.
2. The effects of stress, anxiety, and substance use associated with the lack of boundaries.
3. The interplay of client communication with the Rules of Professional Conduct.
4. The resources available when the Lawyer’s mental health and well-being are challenged.
5. The free, confidential services provided by Lawyers Assistance Programs.

CREDIT(S):

1.0 ETHICS CREDIT

SPEAKER:

Gregory F. Mitsch, Esquire
Education and Outreach Coordinator, Lawyers Concerned for Lawyers of Pennsylvania

Gregory F. Mitsch, Esq., has been a criminal defense attorney for 30 years and was admitted to the Pennsylvania Bar in 1996. He currently serves as the Education and Outreach Coordinator for Lawyers Concerned for Lawyers of Pennsylvania, a Lawyers Assistance Program established in 1988 for the purpose of helping lawyers, judges and law students recover from alcoholism, drug addiction and mental health disorders. He provides Continuing Legal Education presentations to lawyers, judges, and law students. His professional and academic background underscores a longstanding dedication to zealous client representation, legal scholarship, and service to the profession. Prior to his current position, he was a peer volunteer for Lawyers concerned for Lawyers for nine years and was actively involved in the annual volunteer conference. He received his undergraduate degree from The Pennsylvania State University in 1993 and earned his Juris Doctor from the Dickinson School of Law in 1996.

QUESTIONS?

Email Lexi Driendl (lexi@lancasterbar.org), Education & Member Engagement Coordinator

Virtual CLE Attendance Information
For programs offering a virtual attendance option, Zoom login information will be sent to registered attendees either the day before the program or the morning of the event.
If you need to change your registration format from in person to virtual attendance, or from virtual to in person attendance, requests must be submitted at least 24 hours prior to the start of the CLE. Requests received less than 24 hours before the program may not be accommodated.
Virtual attendees will receive additional instructions in advance of the program regarding attendance verification, passwords, and submission of CLE credit forms.
Unless otherwise noted, CLE programs hosted by the Lancaster Bar Association are not recorded.