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    The West Virginia State Bar

    2 days ago

    The West Virginia State Bar
    Just as Anna Jarvis from Grafton, WV wanted to celebrate her mother’s efforts in organizing women’s groups to promote friendship and growth with the first Mother’s Day in the United States, it is fitting that this month’s MoreThanALawyer recipient is Jami Cooper, an attorney in Bridgeport, WV with Cooper Law Offices, PLLC, who strives to improve the legal profession for women and to also protect our children in the world of cyberspace. Jami was nominated by the immediate past State Bar President, Monica Nassif Haddad. Read below for her inspiring story.*******************************************Jami is a full time attorney and mother and realized quickly that balancing both roles requires significant support from both her family and her colleagues. She also learned that women attorneys face many obstacles and challenges being female in what was historically a male dominated profession. Jami went to work on behalf of her female colleagues, serving on the Board for the National Conference of Women’s Bar Associations in 2018 where she continues to work with her contemporaries from around the country and Canada to provide support and programming for multiple women’s bar associations. In fact, Jami is currently helping to plan the 2021 Women’s Bar Leadership Summit. We are also fortunate to have Jami working for women attorneys in West Virginia as the co-chair of the WV State Bar’s Women in the Profession Committee (WIP). In its inaugural year, Jami, along with her co-chair, Lee Hall, held its first program addressing issues unique to our women attorneys in conjunction with the West Virginia State Bar Annual Meeting. The WIP also sponsored on behalf of the WV State Bar the first West Virginia Law Day Contest for West Virginia K-12 students, which introduced the Law to students with contests on the theme “Advancing the Rule of Law Now.” Jami is also involved with the West Virginia Women Attorneys. “The statistics, if you really study them, are staggering. One that gives me a jolt every time is that at the current rates of attrition and promotion of female lawyers, there will not be gender parity in terms of equity partners until 2181.” (See “Special Report: Big Law is Failing Women” The American Lawyer, May 28, 2015). “That should be both shocking and unacceptable to everyone involved in the legal profession.” As Jami notes, and her professional women’s groups are well-aware, the statistics are even worse for minority women. Jami’s son, Brennan, is one of the reasons that Jami is so passionate about making the path to success for women lawyers less difficult. “I know he’s watching his parents and learning from us. I want him to see that we all contribute and that the path for women to success has challenges that men don’t necessarily have. Hopefully, he will grow up to be an advocate for women in whatever profession or line of work he chooses – or at least have some level of knowledge and mindfulness about it.” Combining her knowledge of the law and her motherly instincts, Jami has another passion-project, which concerns educating children and parents on Internet safety with the goal of opening lines of communication, providing information about the risks of social media, and offering suggestions on how to minimize the risk. Although the focus initially was upon students and parents in grades 4-8, the program has grown and Jami now presents to high school students, middle school classrooms, local bar associations, school nurses, church groups, and other professionals whose work finds them addressing these important issues. The presentations include difficult topics such as how to recognize and address risky online behaviors in young people, predatory behaviors of cyber-criminals who target children, human trafficking, cyber-bullying and teen suicide. As if this working mom doesn’t have enough on her plate, Jami volunteers with the Bridgeport High School Athletic Boosters to assist her son, Brennan, in his activities of cross-country, golf, basketball and track. “I’ve made more popcorn than anyone should ever have to make; I’ve rolled more meatballs than anyone should ever have to roll; and I’ve distributed more post-game Chick-fil-A boxed meals than anyone would think reasonable. The work we do is for the kids, though, and the BHS Athletic Boosters is an inspiring group of people that work tremendously hard for the successes of our student athletes.” Jami practices with her husband, Dan Cooper, and credits him for her ability to balance her careers as a mother and lawyer. “Without Dan’s support, being a full-time lawyer and full-time mom would be next to impossible. I think he’s learned a lot about what women – moms or not – face in this profession, and he is incredibly supportive of my work in improving the path to success for women in the legal profession.” Jami and Dan live in Bridgeport, WV and between them have four children – Adam, Danielle, Andrea and Brennan – and four grandchildren – Orin, Silas, Brooks and Briar Rose. Thank you, Jami, for putting women and children at the forefront and for being MoreThanALawyer! Your State Bar and Bridgeport community are grateful.*******************************************What is our MoreThanALawyer campaign all about? It highlights all the ways West Virginia’s attorneys impact lives within and outside of their profession. West Virginia's lawyers are service members, volunteers, mentors, coaches, musicians and committed advocates. In all of these roles, they make a difference in their community. Each month we share a MoreThanALawyer story on West Virginia State Bar’s Facebook and Twitter pages. ... See MoreSee Less

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    The West Virginia State Bar

    3 days ago

    The West Virginia State Bar
    WELL-BEING WEEK AFTER PARTYMAY 17-21, 2021Curbing BurnoutWhat is the prevalence of burnout in the legal profession? And what can legal employers do about it?Although the burnout rate generally is assumed to be high among lawyers, there's actually been no study to evaluate if that's true and, if so, to identify contributing factors that we can do something about. To remedy that, the Institute for Well-Being in Law (IWIL) is in the midst of a burnout and engagement survey of practicing lawyers and law firm staff. (You can see the study details here and take the survey here.) We're closing the survey May 31, but we peeked at the data a few weeks ago. Not surprisingly, we're finding high rates of burnout among both lawyers and staff. We also are seeing one stand-out factor that's negatively related to burnout and positively related to engagement that might surprise you: It's employer's commitment to workplace well-being. We measured this by asking participants, for example, if their employer prioritizes psychological health, their satisfaction level with their employers' efforts to support well-being, and whether managers genuinely care about their personal well-being. Upcoming After Party webinars and downloadable resources can help legal employers learn more about reinforcing their commitment to well-being in the minds of their people:• The Mindful Business Charter: Committing To Well-Being in the Attorney-Client Relationship, Wednesday, May 19, 2021 12:00 pm ET. It will be difficult to foster workplace well-being without focusing on how the attorney-client relationship impacts it. When client demands are never questioned, junior lawyers may perceive employers as not truly caring about their health. To make progress on these issues, Barclays has launched the Mindful Business Charter, which asks clients and outside lawyers to commit to specific practices that better support well-being. A panel of Barclays lawyers and their outside counsel will talk about how they carry out this commitment on a daily basis. Watch a short introduction to the session here. View introductory slides to the Charter here. Register for the free webinar here.• Building Workplace Well-Being Programs: Key Success Factors,Wednesday, May 19, 2021 3:00 pm ET. In this 90-minute free webinar, four panelists from law firms recognized for their progress and innovation on their workplace well-being programs will provide insights about what they believe are key factors to success:o Mary Ellen Connerty from O’Melveny (#1 on the Vault.com Best Law Firm for Wellness rankings)o Karen Barry from Orrick (#2 on the Vault.com Wellness rankings)o Hannah Fabrikant, from McDermott (#3 on the Vault.com Wellness rankings)o Nicole Lark from Covington (which has been engaging in extensive analysis and development after recently signing the ABA Well-Being Pledge).• Register for this free webinar here. Materials for the session include a collection of law firm profiles, What’s Working Well in Law Firm Well-Being Programs?• More Webinars to Underscore Employers' Commitment to Well-Being. The full After Party speaker schedule can be found here.• Workplace Well-Being Handbook. The new Workplace Well-Being Handbook for Law Firms authored by Anne Brafford provides research and guidance for building effective workplace well-being programs. The Handbook can be found on the Well-Being Week in Law website’s Resources page. Sale of the Handbook is a fundraiser for Well-Being Week, and all funds will be donated to the Institute for Well-Being in Law for that purpose.• Well-Being Lessons From The Medical Profession. The medical profession’s decades-long study of physician well-being and burnout can provide insights for the legal profession about building their well-being programs. An on-demand section of the After Party webpage includes such content, including video interviews with Dr. Greg Guldner (who has developed an award-winning resident well-being program), Dr. Scott Rigby (who is developing a training program for physicians who supervise residents), and an article on leader behaviors that support workplace well-being that will be the foundation for a training program for supervising physicians.After Party Recordings Are AvailableIf you haven't been able to join the live After Party sessions but would like to view the recordings, links are available on the After Party website. The recordings are posted on our Lawyer Well-Being YouTube Channel:• You Can't Pour From an Empty Cup: Daily Mindfulness Practices for Workplace Well-Being Professionals presented by Jordan Hamilton is available here.• Well-Being, Inclusion, and Belonging: Breaking Down Silos and Integrating DEI and Well-Being Initiatives presented by a panel of well-being and DEI practitioners is available here. • Practical Advice For Curbing The Work-Life Conflict Crisis In Your Firm presented by Dr. Leslie Hammer is available here.Download Webinar Schedule Go To After Party Website Thanks To IWIL's Inaugural Founding Partners:Crowell & Moring, Katten, Latham & Watkins, Morgan Lewis, and Reed Smith ... See MoreSee Less

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