Webinar: Why Your Office Should Prioritize Wellness and How to Do So

**Program hosted in (ET) Time Zone**

This program examines how legal organizations can move beyond awareness campaigns and wellness pledges toward sustainable operational practices that support lawyer well-being, professionalism, competence, and organizational health. Drawing from ABA lawyer well-being initiatives, the ABA Well-Being Pledge framework, current lawyer mental-health research, and implementation strategies emerging across the legal profession, the session focuses on practical leadership, culture, and systems-level approaches to reducing stigma and improving sustainable performance.

Participants will explore the organizational barriers that often prevent implementation, including stigma, confidentiality concerns, workload norms, presenteeism, leadership ambivalence, and measurement challenges. The discussion introduces a practical “Pledge to Practice” implementation model that legal organizations can adapt across law firms, courts, government agencies, legal departments, bar associations, and law schools.

The program also examines how legal organizations can measure progress using leading indicators, lagging indicators, and qualitative culture signals without reducing well-being solely to productivity metrics. Particular attention is given to transformational leadership behaviors, psychological safety, early help-seeking, sustainable performance, retention, and professional identity formation.

This session is designed as a practical, discussion-oriented CLE that equips attendees with actionable strategies they can begin implementing within 30 to 90 days.

Presented by the FBA’s Professional Development Committee.

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Presenters

Moderator: Adam Stolz is a trial attorney at Homer Bonner Jacobs Ortiz & Dimond — and a staunch advocate for mental health awareness. Adam previously served as a federal clerk for Judge Paul C. Huck. He graduated with high honors from the University of Miami School of Law, where he served on the Executive Board of the University of Miami Law Review and as a member of the Moot Court Board. Adam continues to give back to Miami Law as a mentor to many students and a coach for the Moot Court team. He is also deeply passionate about mental health advocacy and serves as Vice Chairman of the Board for the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI): Miami-Dade County chapter, which provides free mental health support, online groups, resources and education to the community. He has also served on Boards of behavioral healthcare nonprofits focused on integrated care for addiction and mental illness.

Ty Kelly is the founder and co-chair of BakerWell, Baker Donelson’s firmwide wellness initiative dedicated to supporting the mental, physical, and emotional health of every employee. In this role, she leads programs that foster resilience, balance, and well-being across the organization, ensuring that wellness is embedded into the culture of one of the nation’s largest law firms. As a member of Baker Donelson’s Board of Directors, Ty champions initiatives that prioritize wellness alongside peak performance. In her white collar and complex civil litigation law practice, she solves hard problems and is recognized for her instinct, judgment, and ability to communicate complex issues with clarity — qualities that now serve her well in advancing innovative approaches to workplace wellness. In May 2025, she authored Failing to Invest in Wellness Is Planning to Fail Where It Matters Most, published by the American Bar Association, which provides a roadmap for law firms to build sustainable wellness programs that support both people and performance and was recently featured in SuperLawyers. With more than 20 years of experience in high-stakes litigation and government investigations work, Ty brings a deep understanding of the pressures faced by legal professionals in increasingly demanding environments. Ty spent the first half of her career as a federal prosecutor with the Department of Justice and has spent the last decade in private practice. She is also a Fellow in the American College of Trial Lawyers. Ty also keenly understands the pressures of building and maintaining a law practice while balancing life. At home, she loves spending time with her husband, three children, and two cockapoos.

Dr. James Keshavarz is the Chief Wellness Officer at Gibson Dunn. He holds a Doctor of Psychology (PsyD), an MBA in Health Care Management, and an MS in Exercise Science and Health Promotion. Guided by the values of integrity, kindness, and empathy, his work is built on the belief that well-being is not solely an individual responsibility but a shared one, shaped by communities, organizations, and systems that can either protect or undermine mental health. James serves as Chair of the American Bar Association’s Well-Being Pledge Committee and sits on the Board of Directors for the Institute for Well-Being in Law. He is also a member of the ABA’s Commission on Lawyers Assistance Programs Committee and previously chaired the Institute’s Awards Committee. His applied doctoral research explored intrinsic motivation, transformational leadership, and emotional intelligence, key drivers of resilience, organizational well-being, and psychological safety. Earlier in his career, James practiced as a Kinesiologist specializing in injury prevention and performance enhancement and taught as an adjunct professor of Kinesiology and Health Sciences at Glendale Community College, where he received the Distinguished Professor Award in 2019. As a member of the United States Air Force Reserves, James has been recognized as Airman of the Year (2018) for his resilience initiatives within the 452nd Air Mobility Wing and awarded the Air Force Humanitarian Medal (2022) for his COVID-19 response efforts. His additional military honors include the Air Force Commendation Medal, the Air Force Achievement Medal (twice), the Global War on Terrorism Medal, and the Nuclear Deterrence Operations Service Medal. He also serves as an Air Force Master Resilience Trainer, advancing evidence-based strategies for mental health and performance across diverse teams. James’s career reflects a lifelong commitment to advancing well-being at every level, from the individual to the organizational, through evidence-based practice, authentic leadership, and compassion in action. Most importantly, he is a devoted father to his beautiful morning dove, Paloma Leia, who inspires him daily to live with greater purpose, empathy, and love.

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• Live Broadcast | FBA Member: $0
• Live Broadcast | Nonmember: $95
• On-Demand Broadcast | FBA Member: $50
• On-Demand Broadcast | Nonmember: $95