Total Credits: 4.0 MCLE, 4.0 Ethics, 4.0 Kansas Credit, 4.0 Kansas Ethics
Happiness in the law raises many questions for how best to approach the practice in a way that serves clients well and at the same time provides a sense of satisfaction and happiness. The drafters of the United States Constitution recognized the importance of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. The drafters of the Constitution were visionaries in many ways. In fact, we live in a nation founded by lawyers. Of the 57 participants in Philadelphia in 1787 who served as the drafters of our Constitution, 34 were lawyers. Most prominent of the drafters were Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and John Adams, all of whom were lawyers.
This dynamic program will embrace the insights of extraordinary practitioners who view satisfaction and happiness in service to clients as an integral part of the practice of law. Their insights will serve to inspire and permit there to be a toolbox of skills that would enhance satisfaction and happiness in the practice. The recent research on happiness in the fields of neuroscience and positive psychology add additional insights. This program will provide practical insights that that will uplift your day-to-day practice experience and permit you to pursue ever more robustly and joyfully the practice of law.
Who should attend this program?
This program will be of great interest to all those who are engaged in the legal profession as well as those that are engaged more generally in the practice of law. Attorneys, judges, legal administrators, professional practice managers, and those who serve clients in the private sector, public sector, and in business more generally.
Noon-12:06 p.m. | Overview and objectives
12:06-12:36 p.m. | The foundations of happiness and well-being: The emerging science of happiness and positive psychology
12:36-1:29 p.m. | Pathways to happiness and well-being in the law: Five life experiences
1:29-1:36 p.m. | Break
1:36-3:30 p.m. | Pathways to happiness and well-being in the law: Five life experiences (continued)
3:30 p.m. | Adjourn
Moderator: William C. Martucci, Shook, Hardy & Bacon, LLP, Washington, DC
Speakers: Hon. Sarah A. Castle, 16th Judicial Circuit, Kansas City; Dana Chamin Cutler, James W. Tippin & Associates, Kansas City; Krista M. Larson, Director of Well-Being, Stinson LLP, Minneapolis, MN; Hon. W. Brent Powell, Supreme Court of Missouri, Jefferson City; Malika S. Simmons, Kansas City Life Insurance Company, Kansas City; Hon. E. Richard Webber, (ret.), St. Louis
Moderator:
| Happiness in the Law 2023 (755.9 KB) | Available after Purchase | ||
| MOLAP Information (210.1 KB) | Available after Purchase | ||
| Important Information for Attorneys Seeking Kansas Credit (102.8 KB) | Available after Purchase | ||
Judge Sarah A. Castle was appointed by Governor Michael Parson as Circuit Judge of Division 1 on October 20, 2020.
At the time of her appointment, she was serving as Associate Circuit Judge of Division 27, having been appointed by the Governor to the bench on January 29, 2020.
Previously, Judge Castle was served as an Assistant Prosecutor in the Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office, a position she had held since 2013. Prior to that, Judge Castle served as a Special Assistant United States Attorney in the U.S. Attorney’s Office where she assisted in the prosecution of criminal cases specifically related to the illegal possession of firearms.
Judge Castle grew up in Denver, Colorado. She attended the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign where she earned a bachelor’s degree in 2006, and a master’s degree in 2008 in Political Science with an emphasis in Civic Leadership and Disability Studies. She obtained a Juris Doctorate degree from the University of Missouri-Kansas City Law School in 2012.
With close to 35 years in the practice of law, Dana has served in several positions of bar leadership during her career, including being the first woman of color elected as president of The Missouri Bar, in 2016. Her numerous bar-related awards include the 2020 Eighth Circuit Richard S. Arnold Award for Distinguished Service; three President’s Awards from The Missouri Bar; a President’s Award from the Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association; the Ronda F. Williams Spirit of Diversity Award; and the Sly James Diversity and Inclusion Award, just to name a few. She has been recognized as one of the Top 30 Education Law attorneys in Missouri; a Missouri Super Lawyer since 2014; and was honored as the 2018 Woman of the Year by Missouri Lawyers Weekly at their Annual Women’s Justice Awards Luncheon. Dana has tried more than twenty bench and jury trials.
She received her Bachelor of Arts degree in English, with honors, from Spelman College in Atlanta, Georgia, and her Juris Doctor degree from the University of Missouri-Kansas City.
When not practicing law, Dana, along with her husband and law partner Keith Cutler, are co-judges on the two-time Emmy-nominated, nationally syndicated daytime television courtroom show “Couples Court with the Cutlers.” The show is seen daily on the Oprah Winfrey Network.
Krista Larson serves as the Director of Well-Being at Stinson LLP. In this role, Krista leads the implementation of Stinson's vision, strategy, and programming to support the health and well-being of all constituents in alignment with the firm's values and the ABA Well-Being Pledge.
Krista holds a Masters of Applied Positive Psychology degree from University of Pennsylvania where she studied the science of human flourishing under the founder of the field, Dr. Martin Seligman. She has a proven track record of success in the lawyer well-being area and is passionate about leveraging Positive Psychology to help all members of the legal industry thrive.
Bill Martucci, who holds an LL.M. in employment law from Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., practices globally in complex class action (employment discrimination and wage & hour) and EEOC litigation. Chambers USA – America’s Leading Lawyers For Business Notes “Bill Martucci is worth having on any dream team for employment litigation and policy issues.” His jury work has been featured in The National Law Journal. He is listed in the Euromoney Guide to the World’s Leading Labour and Employment Lawyers and the Best Lawyers in America for Business and Employment Litigation. He teaches Multinational Business Policy and the Global Workplace at Georgetown. Bill offices in Washington, D.C.
Justice W. Brent Powell is from Springfield, Missouri, and completed his undergraduate degree at William Jewell College in Liberty, Missouri. He received his J.D. from the University of Missouri-Columbia School of Law in 1996.
Brent Powell was appointed to the office of Circuit Court Judge by Governor Matt Blunt. He took the oath of office on February 15, 2008, and served as a Circuit Court Judge in Division 11 of the 16th Judicial Circuit in Jackson County, Missouri. As a Missouri Circuit Court Judge, he served on the Missouri Supreme Court Committee on Procedure in Criminal Cases, the Committee on Access to Family Courts, the Trial Judge Education Committee and the Missouri Sentencing Advisory Commission.
Brent Powell was appointed to the Missouri Supreme Court by Governor Eric Greitens on April 25, 2017. He took the oath of office on May 2, 2017. He was retained in office at the November 2018 general election for a 12-year term expiring December 31, 2030.
Malika lives and works in the Kansas City area, where she is Assistant Counsel for Kansas City Life Insurance Company, a fourth-generation family business. As such, she handles a wide variety of legal and related matters for the company.
Malika received her law degree from Washington and Lee School of Law, in Lexington Virginia. While there she served on the Executive Editorial Board of the Race and Ethnic Ancestry Law Journal (later renamed the Journal of Civil Rights and Social Justice). She earned her bachelor’s degree from Brown University. At Brown, she was awarded the CV Star Fellowship by the Howard Swearer Center for Public Service.
E. Richard Webber was born June 4, 1942 in a farmhouse in Clark County Missouri. He attended elementary school in a one-room schoolhouse in Scotland County. He graduated from Memphis (Mo.) high school then graduated from the University of Missouri, Columbia, with B.S. Degree in Business Administration in 1964 and a Juris Doctor Degree in 1967. He received his law license on September 2, 1967 and was appointed Prosecuting Attorney of Schuyler County in the same month. He opened a law office in Memphis, Missouri where he practiced law for a little over eleven years, then was appointed to fill a vacancy on the Circuit Court of the First Judicial Circuit January 15, 1979. He was appointed by President William Jefferson Clinton as United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Missouri on December 26, 1995. He elected to assume inactive senior status on that Court September 1, 2022.
