Be Present and Human--Insights for Trauma-Informed Lawyering with Special Guest Patty Montagnino

Main Topics Covered:

• Understanding what trauma is and how it affects clients emotionally, mentally, and physically.
• Recognizing how trauma manifests in legal settings, including common behavioral and communication patterns.
• Preparing clients to testify while addressing their emotional and mental well-being.
• Building trust and rapport with clients to improve communication and case outcomes.
• Avoiding re-traumatization and supporting clients in highly stressful situations.
• The importance of self-care for lawyers to maintain emotional resilience.

Main Themes to Remember in a Trauma-Informed Legal Practice:

1. Empathy and Awareness: Understanding trauma’s impact on clients and witnesses helps lawyers build stronger relationships. Trauma is about what happens within you, not just the event that happened to you.
2. Present Moment Practices for Regulation: Helping clients develop practices and resources to manage emotions and stress, and to stay in the present moment, before and during testimony is essential. The key here is substantial preparation, for which there is no substitute.
3. Self-Care for Lawyers: Acknowledging secondary trauma and implementing personal resilience strategies allow lawyers to be their most effective advocates for trauma survivor clients.

3 Actionable Tips for Lawyers to Create a Trauma-Informed Practice:

1. Check Yourself First: Before working with clients, regulate your own nervous system. Be the "thermostat" that sets the emotional tone for your interactions.
2. Create a Safe Environment: Assess your office setup and communication style to ensure they promote trust and comfort. Small adjustments, such as seating arrangements or word choice, can make a significant difference.
3. Prepare Clients for Stress & Build Rapport and Trust: Use techniques like breathing exercises, grounding activities, or counseling referrals to help clients manage emotions and recall events accurately under pressure. Build rapport and trust with your clients by acknowledging that this may be hard for them, and that their memory may be imperfect, but that you are there to support them to be as effective as possible for them.

Resources Mentioned:

• What Happened to You by Dr. Bruce Perry and Oprah Winfrey (book on trauma and healing).
• Patty Montagnino’s website: pattymontagnino.com

Are you looking for a speaker to energize and empower your organization to develop a fighter's mindset and master their mental performance every day? Or are you interested in a talk or workshop on The Green Light Method, a neuroscience- and performance psychology-based system that helps individuals and teams live and work with Fierce Agency (TM), override fear-based hesitation, rewire limiting beliefs, and take aligned, empowered action toward peak performance and purpose-driven success?

DM me today on LinkedIn or email me at jess@thelegalathlete.com.

Ready to win more at trial without burnout? Limited spaces are still available to secure your own 1:1, 8-week Accelerated Trial Fight Camp.

DM me today on LinkedIn or email me at jess@thelegalathlete.com.

The Legal Athlete Website: Click to learn more about engaging Jess Sargus as a speaker for your group or event, or to explore coaching with Jess Sargus to master your mindset, execute under pressure, and thrive in your career and life for the long term through science and sports psychology.  

Also, through the website, you can download a free copy of The Legal Athlete Daily Planner to help you organize and prioritize easily to grow and get better every day, practice the 6 longevity habits studies show have the greatest positive impact, and implement your Daily Glimmer habit to bring more resilience and happiness into your life. Or, download and print the 4 Steps to Elite Habits flow chart PDF for free to guide your daily and weekly elite habits. 

Music: Bounce Like This, by Wolves - YouTube ID UUFGDERWUSZ9LXWL

Ready to Fight, by Arenas - YouTube ID XKO39W3SJHGS9EKW