Statistics show that Lawyers suffer depression at a rate that is 3.6 times greater than the general population, and lawyers have the highest rate of depression among all professions.
Join Michael Herman and Canadian Director, Mary-Lyn Kieffer for a candid discussion on, One Lawyer's Story of Depression. Michael will share his personal experience with depression and the lessons he learned. He will also share details on what mental health supports have been implemented at his firm, and will provide insight on tangible actions leaders can consider taking to support their employees.
Join us in reducing the stigma of mental illness among the legal profession. Download our Beautiful Brains guide — a six-step manual that provides employers with actionable recommendations for updating their mental health policies.
More About Michael
Michael Herman is a Toronto-based business law partner at Gowling WLG. He also serves as general counsel to the firm.
With more than 30 years of experience, Michael is highly regarded as a strategic adviser to a broad range of clients, with a particular focus on entrepreneurial, privately held companies, mid-market private equity funds and investment institutions. He advises these clients on M&A, corporate development, corporate finance and other complex business matters. In addition to his background in private practice, Michael spent a number of years in senior executive positions at various multi-national public corporations.
Michael is a strong advocate for mental health in the legal community. Through his ongoing work to raise awareness and eliminate stigma, he hopes to make it easier for anyone experiencing mental illness to come forward and seek help without fear of judgment.
CPD/CLE Credits
If you are a Lawyer in Canada or the U.S, this session is eligible for 1 hour credit towards CPD/CLE. If you are in Quebec, please email me ([email protected]) your contact details, and we will send you a certificate after you have tuned in.
About Mary-Lyn Kieffer
Mary-Lyn Kieffer is a mental health advocate and Director of Made of Millions Foundation, Canada. She oversees all event production, digital programming, advocacy and fundraising initiatives taking place in Canada. Prior to her advocacy work, she was a marketing and business development professional in both the financial and legal industries, as well as an event producer, producing educational events for executives from Fortune 500 companies. Mary-Lyn holds a Master's Degree and Bachelor of Arts Degree in International Economics and Finance.
In 2018 she left the corporate world after experiencing severe symptoms of OCD. Her personal experience opened her eyes to the lack of accessible mental health care, and drove her to seek out advocacy initiatives that allowed her to give back to the community. In addition to her work at Made of Millions, Mary-Lyn is an active member of the Toronto OCD community. In 2018, she completed the Peer Support Training program at Mood Disorders Association of Ontario. Using her knowledge to help others, she co-facilitates the Obsessive Compulsive Anonymous Support Group, as well as an OCD peer support group held at Sunnybrook Hospital.
About Dear Manager
The state of mental health in modern workplaces is bleak. Anxiety and depression are on the rise, stigma remains high, technology continues to blur the line between work-life and home-life, and employers are struggling to combat the problem head-on. It’s time for change, but when it comes to mental health, what does real change look like?
Dear Manager is an ongoing series about all things workplace mental health. Members of the Made of Millions team, including executive director, Aaron Harvey, will bring on business owners, HR leaders, workplace advocates, lawyers and doctors to tackle a wide range of topics including workplace stigma, accommodation plans, employee confidentiality, mental and physical health parity, and more.
The series is an extension of Made of Millions viral #DearManager campaign that raised awareness of modern workplace mental health challenges. It was alongside the foundation's Beautiful Brains guide — a six-step manual that provides employers with actionable recommendations for updating their mental health policies. Learn more about the campaign and download a copy at www.dearmanager.com.
