Optimizing and Preserving Wellbeing While Practicing Law (Presented by the Federal Bar Association Judiciary Division and Younger Lawyers Division)

Prof. Scott Rogers, Founder & Director, Mindfulness in Law Program | University of Miami School of Law

Scott Rogers, M.S., J.D., is founder and director of the University of Miami School of Law’s Mindfulness in Law Program, which he founded in 2010, where he teaches Mindfulness in Law, Mindful Ethics, Mindfulness and Negotiation, Mindful Leadership, and Mindfulness and Motivating Business Compliance with the Law. He is co-founder and co-director of UMindfulness, the University of Miami’s Mindfulness Research & Practice Initiative, and co-president of the Mindfulness in Law Society.

Professor Rogers is creator of Jurisight®, one of the first CLE programs in the country to integrate mindfulness and the law and broke ground introducing neuroscience research along with contemplative practices in the legal context. For more than a decade, Professor Rogers has been co-investigator on numerous grants involving neuroscience research exploring the enduring brain and behavior changes that may accompany mindfulness-training programs in high-stress, high consequence professions.

A nationally recognized leader in the field of mindfulness, since 1992 Professor Rogers has taught mindfulness to thousands of legal professionals including lawyers, judges, law students, judicial law clerks, law faculty, and mediators, and, he has introduced mindfulness to physicians, parents, firefighters, accountants, athletes, business leaders, financial advisors, therapists, and educators. He founded the Mindfulness in Law Joint Task Force of the Dade County Bar Association and Federal Bar Association (South Florida Chapter). In 2012 Professor Rogers was awarded the Sookie Williams/DBR Award for Exemplary Service to the Miami-Dade Legal Community,” and in 2015 Professor Rogers was awarded the “Law Faculty Professionalism Award” by the Florida Bar’s Standing Committee on Professionalism. He is the 2018 receipt of the Mindful Kids Miami “Ambassador of Mindfulness” award for his more than 20 years of service sharing mindfulness with parents, teachers, and children.

Professor Rogers has published numerous law review articles and chapters and peer review scientific publications. He is the author of six books including “The Six-Minute Solution: A Mindfulness Primer for Lawyers,” “Mindfulness for Law Students,” “Mindful Parenting,” “Mindfulness and Professional Responsibility,” “Elements of Mindfulness,” and the recently released “The Mindful Law Student: A Mindfulness in Law Practice Guide.” He lectures across the country, speaks at law and scientific conferences, appeared on television, radio, podcasts, and has been interviewed in newspapers and magazines for his work on mindfulness.

Professor Rogers is columnist for the Florida Bar News and the ABA Journal where he authors the “The Mindful Layer” and the “Mindfulness 101” columns. His work at the University of Miami School of Law appeared in the Wall Street Journal, and his research has been reported on in the New York times. Professor Rogers lives in Miami Beach.

Javier Lopez, Partner | Kozyak Tropin & Throckmorton

Javier Lopez is a partner, and co-chair of complex and commercial litigation. He served as Managing Partner of the firm throughout 2020 and 2021. Javier has particular expertise in both U.S. federal and state courts. He has represented many high-profile corporations and individuals in contract and business disputes, commercial transactions, and intellectual property matters. He has handled trials and appeals on both the state and federal levels. His recent verdict in a “bet the company” litigation that resulted in a six week jury trial ended with one of the top ten largest jury verdicts in the State of Florida and one of the top 100 verdicts in the United States which was for almost $37 million.

Javier handles some of the firm’s largest and most complex litigation matters. He has particular expertise in filing and defending claims involving businesses, financial institutions, accounting firms, individuals and others for participation in fraudulent schemes, breaches of contract, breach of fiduciary duties, defamation, intentional infliction of emotional distress, individual and class actions involving deception and false advertising, and representing individuals and large companies in contract and shareholder disputes. Javier frequently serves as an attorneys fee expert as he is certified by the National Association of Legal Fee Analysis (thenalfa.org). He has a passion for civil rights and is frequently appointed by courts to represent the interests of the less fortunate against government entities and law enforcement.

Javier is also humbled to have been appointed as Co-Lead Counsel to the Economic Loss and Property Damage Track in the Champlain Towers South Collapse Litigation, in Miami-Dade County state court before the Honorable Michael Hanzman. This complex litigation, in the aftermath of the devastating Champlain Towers collapse tragedy claiming 98 souls and 136 property units, has been one of the most important and impactful cases of Javier’s career and garnered worldwide importance. The resolution of this matter with over $1.3 billion going to the victims was one of the highest settlements in the country in 2022.

Chambers USA has ranked Javier since 2021 for Litigation: General Commercial and described him as “a highly effective oral advocate” and “an experienced litigator who leads an excellent team.” As featured in The Miami Herald, he was selected by peers as one of South Florida’s 2024 Top Lawyers. Florida Super Lawyers magazine named him a “Rising Star” from 2010-2020, and as a “Super Lawyer” from 2022 forward. He was recognized as a “Rising Star” by the Daily Business Review and a “Top 40 Under 40” by the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. He was elected to the Cuban American Bar Association’s Board of Directors in 2009, and served as its President in 2017. Javier was honored as a Golden Angel for his support of the Jackson Memorial Foundation through JUNTOS, the philanthropic foundation he co-founded. Since 2005, he has been a member of the Harvard Alumni Association’s Interviewing Committee. He is also a Miami Art Studio (MAS) advisory Board Member.

Prior to joining Kozyak Tropin & Throckmorton, Javier was a legal clerk in the White House Counsel’s Office where he was very involved in the vetting process for the replacement of then Chief Justice William Renquist. Javier also worked at the United States House of Representatives as part of the legal review team for new policy and legislation.

Javier is very active in the South Florida Cuban community and charitable organizations such as the Nicklaus Children’s Hospital Foundation (formerly Miami Children’s Hospital Foundation) and the Big Brothers Big Sisters Program. He is an avid baseball fan having been a four-year letterman for Harvard University, and enjoys collecting fine art and international travel.

Hon. Veronica Rossman, Judge | U.S. Court of Appeals – Tenth Circuit

Judge Veronica S. Rossman was born in the former Soviet Union. In the mid-1970s, she immigrated with her parents to the United States from Moscow as political and religious refugees. The family settled in the San Francisco Bay Area, where Judge Rossman grew up.

Judge Rossman received her BA in Comparative Literature (Spanish and Russian) from Columbia University. She received her JD from UC Law San Francisco (formerly UC Hastings), where she served as Editor-in-Chief of the Hastings Constitutional Law Quarterly.

Judge Rossman was a law clerk on the Nevada Supreme Court to Justice William Maupin (retired). She also served as a staff attorney for the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

Early in her career, Judge Rossman worked for several years as a litigation associate with Morrison & Foerster LLP; she was based in the firm’s Washington D.C. and Denver offices. At the firm, Judge Rossman specialized in appellate practice and antitrust work. She also spent several years as a Visiting Assistant Professor at the University of Denver Sturm College of Law, teaching appellate writing and federal civil procedure.

Judge Rossman spent the majority of her legal career as an Assistant Federal Public Defender for the Districts of Colorado and Wyoming, where she was an appellate lawyer and served as Chief of the Appellate Section. Judge Rossman briefed and argued many cases to the Tenth Circuit, never realizing she would one day sit on that court.

In May 2021, President Biden nominated Judge Rossman for an opening on the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit. She was confirmed to that position by the United States Senate in September 2021. The Tenth Circuit is based in Denver, Colorado and reviews cases from Kansas, Colorado, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Utah, and Wyoming. Judge Rossman maintains her residential chambers in Denver, Colorado at the historic Byron White United States Courthouse.

Judge Rossman is a board member of the Federal Judges Association. She is also the Chair of the Colorado Judicial Coordinating Council and the Chair of the Federal Bar Association Judiciary Division’s Article III Appellate Judges Committee. Judge Rossman serves on the Tenth Circuit’s Criminal Pattern Jury Instruction Committee.

I. Be introduced to the fundamentals of mindfulness and select mindfulness practices | 2:00pm – 2:10pm

II. Appreciate how mindfulness practices can be helpful for improved focus and to cultivate greater self-awareness to skillfully respond to emotions such as fear, shame, and doubt | 2:10pm – 2:20pm

III. Understand the prevalence of mental health concerns among legal professionals and the importance of self-care | 2:20pm – 2:30pm

IV. Appreciate the importance of establishing and adhering to boundaries grounded in professional and personal values and needs | 2:30pm – 2:40pm

V. Better navigate the perception of a lack of control over important matters, professionally and personally | 2:40pm – 2:50pm

VI. Learn about vicarious trauma and its potential impact on legal professionals | 2:50pm – 3:00pm