Laurie Besden is the Executive Director of Lawyers Concerned for Lawyers of Pennsylvania, Inc. (LCL PA).
On-Demand: October 30, 2023
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In this riveting program, Executive Director of Lawyers Concerned for Lawyers of Pennsylvania, Inc., Laurie J. Besden, Esq., shares her compelling personal story of an insatiable drug addiction that nearly cost her her life but settled for her freedom. In addition, she will address shocking statistics regarding the prevalence of substance use and mental health disorders in the U.S. legal industry and provide information on how to identify and help attorneys in distress due to substance use and mental health disorders. She will also identify the resources that are available to help, including an overview of LCL services.
Join Ms. Besden for this in-depth telling of her recovery journey, including her eventual reinstatement to the practice of law and the receiving of a Pennsylvania Gubernatorial Pardon by the Honorable Governor Tom Wolf.
This course is co-sponsored with myLawCLE.
Key topics to be discussed:
Date / Time: October 30, 2023
Closed-captioning available
Laurie J. Besden, Esq | Lawyers Concerned for Lawyers of Pennsylvania, Inc
Laurie Besden is the Executive Director of Lawyers Concerned for Lawyers of Pennsylvania, Inc. (LCL PA). She served as its Deputy Executive Director, overseeing its Helpline operations, serving as primary contact for intervention requests, expanding its law school outreach, and increasing LCL PA’s presence within the organized bench and bar, from 2011-2015. After becoming LCL PA’s Executive Director in 2015, Laurie continued to serve in most of these capacities and assumed responsibility for the organization’s administrative and financial operations, as well as its judges’ assistance program (Judges Concerned for Judges).
Laurie is a licensed attorney in Pennsylvania (1999) and New Jersey (1999). She practiced law from 1999 through 2001 and 2009-2011 in several capacities including:
She received her B.A. in Criminology and Criminal Justice from the University of Maryland, College Park, MD (1995) and her J.D. from The Dickinson School of Law of the Pennsylvania State University (1999).
Laurie was the 2015 recipient of the Montgomery Bar Association’s Henry Stuckert Miller Award for her dedication to public service in the legal profession and the 2019 recipient of Caron’s Legal Professional/Uniformed Public Service Award for the Greater Philadelphia Region.
I. Acknowledge substance use and mental health disorders as a disease | 11:00am – 11:15am
II. Recognize the direct and indirect impact that substance use and mental health disorders have on every single person | 11:15am – 11:30am
III. Appreciate the prevalence of substance use and mental health disorders in the US legal industry | 11:30am – 11:45am
IV. Identify resources that are available and understand that there is always hope | 11:45am – 12:00pm