When Pressure Becomes Biology: Protecting Attorney Judgment, Health, and Professional Responsibility

Mark Brezzell, Founder and CEO | MDB LiveConnext LLC

Mark Brezzell is the Founder and CEO of MDB LiveConnext LLC, an executive health coach, educator, and keynote speaker. He brings more than 30 years of experience across cardiovascular medicine and Medical Affairs.

• Education & Credentials

Trained at the Johns Hopkins School of Perfusion Sciences, Mark spent 10 years as a cardiovascular perfusionist and participated in more than 2,000 open-heart procedures. He has also lived with Type 1 diabetes for nearly three decades.

• Recognition & Leadership

He is the author of A Matter of the Heart: My Unexpected Journey with Diabetes.

• Professional Involvement

He has presented at the American Bar Association National Conference for Lawyer Assistance Programs. His educational work includes a Lawline course and programming for the District of Columbia Bar, with upcoming presentations for the Chicago Bar Association and BARBRI/Strafford.

• Experience

Mark translates the science of chronic stress, cardiovascular health, and cognitive performance into practical strategies for attorneys and organizational leaders.

Kara McCarthy Perry, JD, Founder | Just Brilliant LLC

Kara McCarthy Perry, JD, is the founder of Just Brilliant LLC, a consultancy focused on values alignment and organizational culture. After more than 20 years practicing corporate healthcare law in Big Law and in-house roles, she shifted her focus to lawyer well-being and professional identity.

• Education & Credentials

Kara is an adjunct professor at Seton Hall University School of Law, where she teaches Law Student Wellness and Mindfulness. She is also affiliated law faculty and a senior fellow at the Center for Dispute Resolution at Quinnipiac University School of Law. Certified in yoga, meditation, and laughter yoga, Kara helps lawyers, judges, and law students treat well-being as a skill for effective lawyering and leadership.

• Recognition & Leadership

She chairs the Law School Committee of the Institute for Well-Being in Law and the New Jersey/New York Chapter of the Mindfulness in Law Society. She also serves on the New Jersey State Bar Association Lawyer Well-Being Committee and the TEDLaw Faculty Advisory Board.

• Professional Involvement

Kara has presented for the ABA Section of Dispute Resolution, the AALS Section on Balance and Well-Being in Legal Education, the National Association of Women Lawyers, Women Owned Law, the New Jersey Lawyers Assistance Program, and other conferences and bar associations.

• Experience

Her published scholarship focuses on integrative lawyering and lawyer well-being. She believes lawyers should take the practice seriously, but not themselves, and that joy belongs in the conversation about performance.

SESSION 1 – The Biology of Chronic Stress | Mark Brezzell & Kara McCarthy Perry | 2:30pm – 2:50pm

When stress becomes chronic, the same biological systems designed to help attorneys respond to immediate challenges can begin to impair sleep, attention, memory, cardiovascular health, glucose regulation, and executive decision-making. This session examines how the autonomic nervous system, stress hormones, inflammation, sleep disruption, and vascular changes influence health and performance.

SESSION 2 – The Health Consequences of Long Working Hours | Mark Brezzell & Kara McCarthy Perry | 2:50pm – 3:10pm

Participants will learn how prolonged workload, long hours, insufficient recovery, and an “always-on” culture can affect professional performance and long-term health, what current research shows about extended workweeks, cardiovascular risk, metabolic health, burnout, and professional sustainability.

SESSION 3 – Stress, Attorney Judgment, and Professional Duties | Mark Brezzell & Kara McCarthy Perry | 3:10pm – 3:30pm

The legal profession demands sustained concentration, sound judgment, emotional control, and performance under pressure, the same capacities that competent, diligent representation depends on. This session connects the science of chronic stress to the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct, examining how prolonged pressure and insufficient recovery can affect attention, memory, communication, emotional regulation, and decision-making, all central to the duties of competence, diligence, and communication lawyers owe their clients (Model Rules 1.1, 1.3, and 1.4).

BREAK | 3:30pm – 3:40pm

SESSION 4 – When Health Affects Practice | Mark Brezzell & Kara McCarthy Perry | 3:40pm – 4:00pm†

This session addresses the responsibilities lawyers and supervisors have when a health condition affects the ability to practice: professional responsibilities when a physical or mental condition impairs representation (Model Rule 1.16(a)(2)); the responsibilities of supervising and subordinate lawyers (Model Rules 5.1 and 5.2); the duty to report professional misconduct (Model Rule 8.3(a)); and the reporting exception for information gained through lawyer assistance programs (Model Rule 8.3(c)).

SESSION 5 – Practical Strategies for Sustainable Performance | Mark Brezzell & Kara McCarthy Perry | 4:00pm – 4:20pm

The program moves beyond simply telling attorneys to become more resilient. This session provides evidence-informed ways attorneys can recognize early warning signs, support recovery, set reasonable response expectations with clients, strengthen recovery, protect cognitive performance, and protect focus and judgment.

SESSION 6 – Leadership and Workplace Culture | Mark Brezzell & Kara McCarthy Perry | 4:20pm – 4:40pm

The closing session turns to realistic strategies that teams and firm leaders can use to create more sustainable ways of working: what firm and team leaders can do, consistent with their supervisory responsibilities under Model Rules 5.1 and 5.3, to reduce preventable risk and build a culture where great work doesn’t come at the cost of the people doing it.