“How to Build a Prevention Toolbox for Law Student Well-Being” emphasizes the rising number of law students experiencing mental health issues and suggests that law schools and the legal profession provide law students with the necessary resources to thrive throughout their law school careers.

“While law students and lawyers may find it challenging to practice self-care, building it into routines creates structure and ease. In fact, the absence of a routine causes stress, burnout, and feelings of unmanageability. The idea is to seamlessly weave healthy lifestyle habits into your daily life.”
– Erin Clifford

Providing realistic solutions that can be implemented by anyone, Erin outlines the following six strategies to build a prevention toolbox:

• Practice the Oxygen Mask Rule by Building Self-Care into Daily Routines
• Set Healthy Boundaries
• Move to Boost Your Mental and Physical Well-Being
• Practice Mindful Stress Management
• Build a Support Network
• Golden Rule: Something Is Always Better Than Nothing

As a Certified Holistic Health Coach with a background in law, Erin is uniquely positioned to provide health and wellness support to lawyers. She works closely with law professionals to address all the factors in their daily lives, including physical activity, stress management, mindfulness, nutrition, sleep, relationships, and careers.

“Busy law students and members of the legal profession can always find a little more work-life harmony by incorporating small pockets of self-care into their daily lives.”

Read the full Practising Law Institute article here.

To learn more about Erin Clifford and her work in legal wellness, visit her Erin Clifford Wellness and Healthy Lawyers websites.

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Erin highlights the unique challenges attorneys face, including long hours and high-pressure decisions, and presents practical steps to help them thrive in both their personal and professional lives.

“Just as physical spaces may be neglected and become entangled with the messiness of life during the coldest months, so does the space within our mind, body, and spirit.”
-Erin Clifford

Here are the six well-being strategies Erin outlines in her ABA article:

1. Clear Space Within – Erin emphasizes the importance of releasing negative emotions that can cloud the mind and body. Through reflection and creating a “burn” list, she encourages lawyers to let go of what is holding them back mentally.
2. Clear External Spaces – Clutter can be overwhelming, so Erin suggests decluttering physical environments to improve mental clarity. She provides a simple step-by-step approach to tidying up, which can help boost both mental and physical health.
3. Clear Your Mind – Erin stresses the benefits of maintaining a clear mind through mindfulness practices like meditation, gratitude, digital detoxes, and regular exercise. These activities can help reduce anxiety and increase creative thinking.
4. Take Time for Self-Care – Self-care is essential for well-being, and Erin encourages attorneys to find activities, big or small, that bring them joy. She notes that consistent self-care can help reduce anxiety, improve concentration, and increase happiness.
5. Connect – Staying connected with loved ones is crucial. Erin reminds lawyers to nurture their relationships, whether through a text, a coffee date, or a weekend meet-up, to boost feelings of belonging and well-being.
6. Give Yourself Grace – Finally, Erin urges attorneys to practice self-compassion. By recognizing and honoring personal limits, they can reduce stress and cultivate a more positive mindset.

“Giving yourself grace means acknowledging when things are hard and understanding that we may not have a solution. When we recognize, accept, and honor our limits, we will reduce feelings of anger, stress, regret, or resentment.”

Erin’s article serves as a valuable reminder for legal professionals to prioritize their well-being, not just during springtime but year-round. With these strategies, attorneys can step into a new season feeling refreshed, focused, and ready to take on the demands of their profession with renewed energy.

Read the full Litigation News article here. To learn more about Erin Clifford and her work in legal wellness, visit her Erin Clifford Wellness and Healthy Lawyers websites.

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Shannon McNulty‘s path began at the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority, where she managed the Chicago Homicide Dataset. Her work focused on using data from violent crimes to predict and prevent future incidents, emphasizing advocacy and community betterment over punitive measures.

With a strong family background in law enforcement, Shannon joined the Chicago Police Department as a civilian and served as the Director of Administration in the Bureau of Operational Services and Chief of Staff to the First Deputy Superintendent. Her path took a pivotal turn during her time here when her police captain, a respected mentor and lawyer himself, encouraged her to attend law school. Recognizing her problem-solving skills and intellectual abilities, he believed that a legal career would provide her with more opportunities to contribute to the community and effect change within large organizations. With his guidance, Shannon took the LSAT and enrolled in law school at DePaul University, where she was drawn to tort law as a means to create broad-scale change.

“Seeing the common denominator of enforcing the law and finding solutions and improving standards of living caused me to gravitate toward practicing in areas of tort law.”
Shannon M. McNulty, partner at Clifford Law Offices

For the past 20 years, Shannon has led Clifford Law Offices’ mass tort, fraud, whistleblower/qui tam matters, and class actions. Her work includes securing significant verdicts and settlements, such as a $34.75 million result in a class action against Proline Casement windows and her role as liaison counsel in the $92 million data privacy suit against TikTok. Shannon has also been instrumental in the landmark opioid litigation, including her co-lead counsel role in the Purdue Pharma bankruptcy proceedings, which resulted in a $250 million settlement.

“I really believe in active, empathetic listening to restore the client to their strongest position, not only in their case but in their life.”
Shannon M. McNulty, partner at Clifford Law Offices

Beyond these high-profile cases, Shannon believes in the power of litigation as a tool for change. She emphasizes the importance of helping clients find their voices and achieve a sense of justice and confidence after tragedy. Through active, empathetic listening, she strives to restore her clients to their strongest positions, both in their cases and in their lives.

Lawdragon’s Lawyer Limelights interviews highlight the careers of exceptional attorneys, providing a unique forum for the ultimate series for lawyer conversation. Read the full article on Lawdragon here.

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Courtney outlines Rule 30(b)(6)’s unique components and its significance in personal injury and medical malpractice cases. She illustrates how corporate representative depositions can strategically advantage plaintiffs’ attorneys in a range of legal scenarios.

To read Courtney’s article in full, click here.

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“Chuck has an amazing record of accomplishment and a tireless devotion to the clients of Clifford Law Offices. Over his many years as a Clifford Law associate, Chuck has demonstrated an unwavering commitment to the firm and those we serve. His level of loyalty and devotion demonstrate how deserving he is of becoming a partner at the firm,” said Robert A. Clifford, founder and senior partner at the firm. “I look forward to working with him in the years to come and the contributions he will make inside and out of the courtroom.”

Haskins has concentrated his legal work in the area of complex medical malpractice including being a part of the legal team that obtained a $101 million verdict on behalf of a baby who was brain damaged at birth at a Chicago-area hospital. He has worked in other areas of personal injury law including second-chairing a trial on behalf of a family whose son drowned at a public swimming pool where Haskins obtained a $21.5 million verdict.

Haskins obtained his J.D. from Loyola University School of Law during which time he clerked at the firm.

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“Visual Presentation Helps Juries See the Law” is the title of the article that examines the increased use of demonstrative evidence to help juries understand the various nuances of a case, particularly as the facts and the law become more complex.

“Too many demonstrative exhibits overcomplicate the problem they are trying to simplify by attempting to communicate too many concepts at once. Instead, pick the one thing you are trying to communicate visually and concentrate on that singular concept,” they wrote in the article. To read the entire article, click here*.

Clifford, former Chair of the ABA Section of Litigation, and King a member of the Section, have contributed to this publication and others on trial work. Litigation Magazine is distributed to thousands of lawyers across the country who are members of the Section of Litigation who try cases.

*©2023. Published in Litigation Magazine, Vol. 49, No. 3, Spring 2023, by the American Bar Association. Reproduced  with permission. All rights reserved. This information or any portion thereof may not be copied or disseminated in  any form or by any means or stored in an electronic database or retrieval system without the express written consent of the American Bar Association or the copyright holder.

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Tracy A. Brammeier has been named partner at Clifford Law Offices. Since starting at the firm as a law clerk in 2012 and becoming an associate in 2014, Tracy has built a reputation of hard work and perseverance that has led to her recognition as a young leader in the legal community.

“I like helping people in their time of need and being someone my clients know they can count on. Not only can I make a difference, but I can also be the rock a client leans on.”
-Tracy A. Brammeier, partner at Clifford Law Offices

Tracy has built extensive experience across all areas of the firm’s practice but has focused her work on complex and/or catastrophic transportation matters. She has assisted clients in a broad range of matters including severe cyclist crashes, truck accidents, boating incidents, and forklift accidents.

Tracy works alongside Robert A. Clifford and Kevin P. Durkin on complicated aviation cases, currently acting as the court-appointed Liaison Counsel for all plaintiffs in the lawsuit arising from the 2019 crash of Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302, a Boeing 737 MAX 8 airplane, which resulted in the deaths of 157 people.

Tracy’s dedication to the profession extends well beyond her work at the firm with her involvement in several associations that promote the trajectory of the legal profession and uphold the values of the judicial system. Tracy is a member of the Board of Managers of the Chicago Bar Association, an investigating member of the Chicago Bar Association’s Judicial Evaluation Committee, a past Chair of the Young Lawyers Section of the Chicago Bar Association, a member of the Board of Managers of the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association, a member of the International Aviation Women’s Association as well as the American Association for Justice and the American Bar Association.

Philanthropy is an important component of the Clifford Law Offices culture and Tracy finds many opportunities to give back to the community through her work with the 100 Club of Chicago, a not-for-profit organization that assists the families of police officers and firefighters throughout Cook and Lake Counties, and her volunteer work with the Chicago Bar Association Young Lawyers Section program Wills For Heroes, which prepares basic wills for Chicago and Illinois State police officers. She has also competed in the “Most Fit Lawyer” competition hosted by the Young Lawyers Section of the Chicago Bar Association, which highlights the athletic agility of Chicago attorneys while raising funds to support the CBA’s Edward J. Lewis II Lawyers in the Classroom Program.

Tracy’s hard work has earned her many accolades from multiple organizations including Super Lawyers®, Best Lawyers®, Leading Lawyers, Law Bulletin Media, and Emerging Lawyers. In 2022 she received the Trial Lawyer Excellence Award from the Jury Verdict Reporter.

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John V. Kalantzis

John V. Kalantzis, a personal injury attorney at Clifford Law Offices, grew up in Chicago as the son of Greek immigrants. One of his chief motivators behind pursuing a career in law was watching the struggles and uncertainty his parents faced on a day-to-day basis as they tried to assimilate to their new home while learning to navigate the newfound culture. John is fluent in Greek and an active member in his Greek American community through volunteer work at his church and other community organizations.

He attended Northwestern University (B.A.) and Notre Dame Law School (J.D.). Prior to joining Clifford Law Offices in 2019, John practiced at a well-established personal injury firm and acquired a wealth of trial experience representing those injured by motor vehicle collisions, premises liability and security/police misconduct. Prior to that, John’s legal practice concentrated on commercial litigation with a focus on enforcement of contracts and collection of accounts receivables. At Clifford Law Offices, John focuses on aviation law and cases involving wrongful death.

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Pandemic Trial Overflow Slows Court Proceedings

In her article, Tracy addresses the backlog of trial cases due to court closures during the pandemic and offers a solution to easing the workload in judges’ dockets. She shares that while all cases must eventually reach a resolution, it may be beneficial for smaller or simpler claims to explore dispute resolution alternatives such as settlements.

During the pandemic, The CBA Mediation Service Program was introduced by Thomas Mulroy, a former judge in the Cook County Law Division’s Commercial Calendar section and past CBA president. The new resource was intended to assist attorneys moving through constant delays in an already slow system by offering mediation as a quicker alternative.

The CBA’s mediation program offers experienced and vetted mediators to CBA member attorneys seeking assistance with parties looking to reach a settlement. The program provides attorneys with a more economical and efficient resolution process than costly private mediation services.

Beyond Mediation Service

As traditional systems return to normal post-pandemic, Mulroy’s program continues to assist attorneys and judges with caseloads and also offers an additional benefit for young attorneys. Tracey shares how the CBA Mediation Service Program promotes collegial relationships between opposing counsel by allowing collaboration and shared thought as attorneys work alongside other professionals in their practice area.

There are currently over 50 trained and experienced mediators available in the system with areas of specialization in many practice areas including family law, real estate, and personal injury. Not only does mediation create a natural environment for networking, but it allows young lawyers to participate in decision-making and negotiations while building confidence and assertiveness under guidance.

For more information on the Young Lawyers Section of the Chicago Bar Association, visit this page.

Read Tracy’s entire article on page 36 of the May/June 2022 edition of the CBA Record.

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Working Remotely Lacks the Personal Touch

In the article, Tracy discusses the pros and cons of working remotely over the last few years due to the pandemic. On one hand, she admits that working from her home has allowed her more flexibility, such as getting in a morning workout instead of sitting in commute traffic or prepping for a healthy dinner on her lunch break. On the other hand, she notes that remote court appearances, Zoom depositions, and emails that are “all business” have eliminated “real conversation” between her and others in the legal industry that are not in her office. 

Tracy explains, “Pre-pandemic, I made an effort to ask my opposing counsel about their family or business after a court hearing or while on a break during a deposition. I chatted with court reporters and witnesses about their day and current events. I experienced human connections with the people I encountered every day while doing my job.” She further explains, “Although these interactions are not gone altogether…We have lost the personal touch. That takes its toll.”

YLS Focuses on Coming Together More in the Future

Tracy and her fellow YLS Officers have realized that “conversations are at a risk of becoming a lost art.” With the world re-opening, they are focusing on expanding in-person events and opportunities in the coming months partly because, “talking to people you do not know very well or see every day about something other than the case you are working on is a skill, and one that diminishes without practice. Like any muscle, you must use it to build it.” 

As Chair of the YLS, Tracy has enjoyed getting to know YLS members on both a personal and professional level. Her experience over the last few years has taught her the importance of coming together and “that we all need each other to thrive as lawyers.”

For more information on the Young Lawyers Section of the Chicago Bar Association, visit this page.

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Read Tracy’s entire article here. 

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