Areas of Expertise

Education

 

Lawyers are good students, generally able to master new subjects with relative ease when a case or matter requires it.  Unfortunately, the learning curve can be altogether different when it comes to personal well-being, which is where we step in.

As both an ancillary component of our strategic guidance and program development services, or a standalone service for employers seeking to help their people thrive, Krill Strategies teaches lawyers and staff about the vitally important subjects that law school and the profession frequently do not.

In addition to our Krill OnDemand courses, we offer live, in-house or virtual presentations, workshops and trainings on a variety of critical topics, including:

  • Customized Mental Health First Responder training

  • Practical approaches to stress management and tips for building an effective personal wellbeing plan

  • Understanding the basics of addiction and mental health in the legal profession, including warning signs and symptoms

  • Protocols for successfully managing mental health issues in the workplace

  • The fundamentals of well-being, self-care, balance, and boundary setting

  • How to build a culture of well-being at the organizational level

  • Emerging trends and best practices related to mental health & well-being in the workplace

  • Burnout, vicarious trauma, and compassion fatigue: understanding and avoiding common phenomena in the legal profession

  • A self-assessment or other check of participants’ mental health and substance use risk

  • The relationship between personal well-being, job performance, and career satisfaction

  • Overcoming stigma and challenging our thinking about mental health

  • How, why, and where to seek help at the first signs of difficulty

  • How to approach a colleague about whom you may be concerned

Strategic Guidance & Program Development

 

Krill Strategies provides innovative, expert guidance for developing a culture of well-being and for recognizing, addressing, and effectively reducing the incidence of problematic substance use and mental health distress in a firm’s workforce. 

We help legal employers navigate the world of behavioral health with clarity and success, offering a wide range of services that includes:

  • The Krill Strategies Behavioral Health Audit

  • Resource identification and vetting

  • Policy and process improvement recommendations

  • Strategic goal setting and progress monitoring

  • Educational presentations and workshops

  • Management training and coaching

  • Resource identification, coordination, and referral

Crisis Management

 

Few situations can be as sensitive, unpredictable, perplexing and formidable as an emergent mental health or substance use problem in an employee or colleague. Whether an attorney’s personal challenges are surfacing in the work environment for the first time, or a longstanding pattern of dysfunction has finally reached a tipping point, enlightened strategies and expert-guided action plans are indispensable. 

Krill Strategies helps law firms effectively manage addiction and mental health situations with competence, confidence, and confidentiality. Drawing on deep clinical and practical experience, as well as a strong network of relationships with treatment providers and other mental health professionals, Krill Strategies provides thoughtful and coordinated direction out of the complex maze of issues that arise from lawyer impairment and behavioral health crises.  

We help employers help their team members in a time of need, offering a comprehensive range of solutions that include:

  • A Behavioral Health Helpline for law firm management

  • Situational assessments and action plan development

  • Intervention coordination and referrals to treatment

  • Stakeholder education about what to expect when a colleague needs treatment

  • Tailored return-to-work agreements

  • Customized road maps for recovery management

THE BIG TAKEAWAYS

A law firm’s most important asset is its people.  When they struggle, the organization suffers.  When they’re at risk, so is the firm’s success.  Unfortunately, current research shows that attorneys are far more likely than average to engage in problematic substance use, be burdened by mental health problems, or experience a general lack of well-being, often resulting in consequences to the individual, the employer and the client that can range from the subtle to the profound.  The wide array of issues directly implicated by unresolved addiction or mental health problems of attorneys include:

  • Individual employee performance, satisfaction, development, and retention

  • Collective culture and morale

  • Delivery of quality, effective client service

  • Malpractice and ethical violations

  • Firm image and overall client satisfaction

  • Turnover and healthcare costs