Well-Being Resources for Legal Leaders
In honor of Mental Health Awareness Month, we’re continuing our focus on attorney well-being with a curated roundup of resources that inform, inspire, and support.
From burnout to belonging, and from redefining success to building resilient, high-performing teams—these podcasts, webinars, and articles spotlight insights from Latitude and leading voices across the legal profession.
🎙️Powerful Conversations from the Leveraging Latitude Podcast
1. Beating Burnout at Work with Paula Davis
Former attorney and workplace resilience expert Paula Davis reframes burnout as a workplace culture issue and shares concrete tools leaders can use to reduce it. Sharing insights and key takeaways from her book “Beating Burnout at Work: Why Teams Hold the Secret to Well-Being and Resilience,” Paula shares practical strategies for building resilient, high-performing teams.
Standout moments:
- “Burnout really is an individual expression of a workplace culture issue.”— Paula Davis
- “One of the most powerful things that leaders can do to create psychological safety is to say, ‘I don’t know—what do you think?’”— Paula Davis
Listen now: “Beating Burnout at Work”
2. It’s Okay Not to be Fine: Promoting Mental Health in the Legal Profession with Reid Murtaugh
Attorney and co-founder of The Lawyers Depression Project Reid Murtaugh shares his personal journey with mental health, and the transformative power of peer-based support. He emphasizes that many lawyers are struggling silently, especially early in their careers, and that simply knowing you’re not alone can be a turning point. The episode explores the emotional impact of sharing lived experience and the importance of redefining self-care to include human connection. Reid’s candid reflections remind us that connection is key to attorney well-being.
Standout moment:
- “When you talk about dealing with mental health, you have to do self-care, you have to do things that you enjoy or do exercise or do guided meditations or all those kinds of things are really important to be able to manage your condition. And even if you don’t have a condition, they’re very important for you to be present when you’re showing up to work, to practice law, and to be fit, and to be effective.”— Reid Murtaugh
Listen now: “It’s Okay Not to Be Fine: Promoting Mental Health in the Legal Profession”
3. Redefining Success: Juanita Ingram on Finding Purpose Beyond the Law
Attorney, author, award-winning actress and filmmaker, and Mrs. Universe 2022/2023, Juanita Ingram describes how stepping off the traditional legal path allowed her to rediscover her values, expand her impact, and align her work with what matters most to her. Her journey is a compelling example of how attorney well-being can flourish when we challenge rigid narratives about success.
Standout moments:
- “Our profession is such that we live for a performance review. Every month, we want to tick the box and know we have enough billable hours. It’s a profession of validation…It’s a constant, ‘tell me I’m okay.’ And it’s a very strong person that can stand and say, ‘I’m good because I’m good, because I’m living what I’m supposed to do. And it may not look like what everybody else is supposed to do.’” — Juanita Ingram
- “I truly had found a passion and a love and was called into multi different areas. And so, I spent some time really sitting with that and letting that be okay and then not apologizing for it.” — Juanita Ingram
Listen now: “Finding Purpose and Fulfillment Outside Traditional Legal Careers”
🎥 On-Demand Webinar: Building Meaningful Connections at Work
This webinar brings together law firm, in-house, and HR leaders for a rich discussion on tackling loneliness and disconnection in legal teams—and why close workplace relationships and belonging are business imperatives for attorney engagement, resilience, and retention.
You’ll hear from leaders at U.S. Bank, Asurion, Cultivate and Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP on real strategies to foster trust, healthy boundaries, and workplace well-being.
Standout moments:
- “We built a short set of guidelines that create a space to have conversations about how we want to work together internally and with our outside law firms…Responsiveness is a cornerstone of the legal profession…But what we wanted to do was say ‘There are times when we need you to get back to us. But there are also times when if we communicate to you that we don’t need something for three days, we don’t want it at 6AM the next morning.’” — Benjamin Carpenter, U.S. Bank
- “The emerging talent that is coming up through the ranks right now are digital natives. They’ve never not been connected…So, when you think about mental health and training, we need to be intentional with teaching them a skill that doesn’t come naturally to them…building in an understanding of what boundaries mean and how to ask for them.” — Kathleen Pearson, Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP
Watch now: “Building Meaningful Connections: Strategies for Increasing Attorney Well-Being and Engagement on the Job”
📝 Articles from Latitude
1. Simple Leadership Habits That Nurture Connection
Drawing from real experiences of two Latitude Partners, explore how small, human-centered actions—like asking better questions and modeling vulnerability—can reduce isolation and increase engagement on legal teams.
Standout moments:
- “Every time you interact with a colleague—whether it’s someone on your team, your boss, or a client—you’re at a decision point. You’ve seen how things were done before, and you have a choice: repeat those patterns, or do something different. What matters is your intentionality. You can choose to model the behaviors that had a positive impact on you—and to pay it forward. And you can recognize what maybe didn’t feel right and make a conscious choice to lead differently.” — Kyle Robisch, Partner at Latitude
- “When you create real relationships—beyond just day-to-day transactions—people feel comfortable enough to speak up, challenge ideas, and take smart risks. That’s the beauty of building a diverse, connected team: you get different lived experiences, different ways of thinking, and ultimately, that’s where innovation and progress come from.”— Justin T. Johnson, Partner at Latitude
Read now: Simple Leadership Habits that Nurture Connection at Work
2. Prioritizing Team Well-Being
Latitude Partner Michelle Culligan recaps a panel discussion she moderated with three legal department leaders. They share practical strategies for leaders to model balance, set boundaries, and lead with empathy in high-stakes legal environments.
Standout moments:
- “Well-being, or its absence, is reflected through productivity levels, professional and social interactions, work quality, and how we contribute to serving clients’ needs. Prioritizing well-being not only benefits lawyers individually but also contributes to optimizing team performance and better client outcomes.”
- “A common theme underpinning the panelists’ discussion is that well-being-focused leadership starts with actively listening and observing, particularly within remote work situations.”
Read now: Prioritizing Team Well-Being: 4 Strategies for Legal Department Leaders
3. Other People Matter
Latitude Executive Vice President and Partner Candice Reed highlights why relationships—not achievements—sustain attorney well-being and why isolation undercuts performance and retention.
Standout moment:
- “So if your goal is to increase intimacy, trust, life satisfaction and overall well-being in both yourself and the people you care about, talk to them. Tell your co-worker what you did over the weekend or how much you are enjoying the latest Patterson novel. And the next time your colleague starts bragging about his kids or telling you stories from her glory days, turn off your mental egg timer and take a few minutes to listen. Get into the story. Be supportive, ask questions, and respond enthusiastically.”
Read now: “Other People Matter”
4. Why Wait to be Happy?
Candice Reed invites attorneys to stop deferring happiness and start designing careers aligned with meaning, balance, and personal agency—right now.
Standout moments:
- “People, sometimes the very ones who love us most, are happy to set goals and expectations for us to reach for and judge ourselves against…We become so focused on reaching the next carrot that someone else is dangling out in front of us that we fail to think about whether we actually even like carrots. Science says that it is time to flip the script and write your own screenplay. Take back control. Do more of what makes you happy and success will follow.”
- “Lean in to your own life, your own career development, your own happiness. Learn your craft, analyze your strengths, set your priorities based on your own values and what you actually want to do with this one life you have, and do the work that you enjoy in the way that will allow you to experience happiness now (not years from now).”
Read now: “Why Wait to Be Happy?”
📚 Additional Resources Our Team Recommends
Books Worth Reading
- “Beating Burnout at Work” by Paula Davis — A practical guide to team-level resilience and workplace well-being.
- “Together” by Dr. Vivek Murthy — On loneliness as a public health crisis and the importance of human connection.
Articles & Toolkits
Podcasts
Support
Closing Thought
Mental health in the legal profession is not a side conversation—it’s central to performance, individual and team well-being, and career sustainability. Whether you’re exploring leadership habits, rethinking your definition of success, or supporting your colleagues and peers, we hope this resource roundup provides both inspiration and assistance.
If one article, episode, or quote resonates with you, share it with a friend or colleague. Well-being starts with connection—and connection starts with conversation.
