IBA Professional Wellbeing Commission

Sara Carnegie

Sara is an employed barrister with over 20 years’ experience in the criminal justice and public policy sector. The majority of her career has been spent working for government, most recently as Director of Strategic Policy at the Crown Prosecution Service.

Sara has led the legal teams on two public inquiries (The Baha Mousa Inquiry and the Detainee Inquiry) and spent several years as a legal and policy advisor to the Senior Presiding Judge and Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales.

She has sat in a judicial capacity on the Council of the Inns of Court Disciplinary Tribunal between 2013 and 2020 and was appointed as a reviewer for the National Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel in 2019.

She currently heads up the Legal Policy and Research Unit at the International Bar Association, working across all Committees and Divisions to lead and support a wide range of IBA projects. This frequently involves collaboration with external stakeholders, including the United Nations, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), European Union institutions and World Bank. Current projects cover business and human rights, anti-corruption, rule of law, cybersecurity and mental well-being in the legal profession.

George Artley

As an undergraduate George studied history at the University of Oxford, before training as a commercial lawyer at Macfarlanes LLP in the City of London. He then returned to Oxford for graduate study, where he undertook a DPhil. In legal history, focusing on the political origins of the rule of law and judicial independence in England.

As BIC Project Lawyer, his role is to assist the BIC in co-ordinating and implementing projects that exclusively support member bar associations and law societies, including capacity assistance projects to developing bars, BIC Policy Committee projects, and projects involving the BIC International Trade & Legal Services committee.

Kellie Krake

Kellie Krake brings 30+ years as a lawyer, administrator, and educator to the role of Director of Strategic Initiatives (Interim) for the Canadian Bar Association. Projects with the CBA currently include the CBA’s truth and reconciliation work related to Indigenous communities and the CBA Legal Futures Initiative, which looks at how and why the legal market is changing, and how the profession can successfully adapt to those changes.

Kellie received her law degree from University of Wisconsin Law School and her executive education at Harvard Kennedy School of Government and Rotman School of Management at University of Toronto

Contact: avivar@cba.org

Tracy Kepler

Tracy L. Kepler is Risk Control Consulting Director for CNA’s Lawyers Insurance Program where she designs/develops content and distribution of risk control initiatives relevant to the practice of law. Prior to her role at CNA, she served as the Director of the ABA’s Center for Professional Responsibility, providing national leadership in developing and interpreting standards and scholarly resources in legal and judicial ethics, professional regulation, professionalism, client protection, professional liability and attorney well-being. Tracy also has nearly 20 years of experience as a regulatory/disciplinary litigator with the USPTO and the Illinois Attorney Registration & Disciplinary Commission. She is a past president of the National Organization of Bar Counsel, a Board member of the Institute for Well-Being in Law (formerly the National Task Force on Lawyer Well-Being) and is a co-author of its Report & Recommendations. She also teaches legal ethics/professional responsibility at Loyola School of Law School (Chicago), American University Washington College of Law and Georgetown University Law Center.

Contact: Tracy.Kepler@cna.com

Mary Digiglio

Mary is the Managing Partner of Swaab, a Sydney based mid-sized commercial law firm. In this role, Mary leads by example, with an authentic leadership style and a focus on promoting and protecting the well-being of people in the legal profession.

In 2019, Mary received the Lawyers Weekly Partner of the Year award in the category of "Wellness Advocate of the Year".

Mary is also the practice group leader of a dynamic team of property lawyers at Swaab, she is a NSW Law Society accredited specialist in property law and was recommended by Doyles in 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020 as a leading NSW lawyer in Property, Real Estate and Leasing.

Mary's community work includes sitting on the Board of the Minds Count Foundation (formerly the Tristian Jepson Memorial Foundation), a not-for-profit organisation which has been advocating for wellness in the legal industry for over 10 years.

Contact: med@swaab.com.au

Bree Buchanan

Bree Buchanan is founding co-chair of the National Task Force on Lawyer Well-being and is a co-author of its groundbreaking 2017 report, The Path to Well-Being: Practical Recommendations for Positive Change. In December 2020, she was appointed Board President of the newly formed Institute for Well-being in Law, a new nonprofit dedicated to bringing about systemic change in the legal profession such that considerations of well-being become central to the practice. Ms. Buchanan served as chair of the ABA Commission on Lawyers Assistance Programs (2017-2020) and as director of the Texas Lawyers Assistance Program from 2013 until retirement in 2018. She is now Senior Advisor with Krill Strategies, Inc., providing consultation on issues related to lawyer well-being and impairment for major legal employers. Ms. Buchanan is co-host of the podcast, The Path to Well-Being Law, and has shared her own story of recovery as a featured guest on podcasts - as well as articles published - in the United States, Canada and the U.K.

Contact: Bree1964@att.net

Desi Vlahos

Desi is an Australian Legal Practitioner and Mentor at Leo Cussen, Centre for Law, Victoria, Australia. She was admitted as a solicitor in the Supreme Court of Victoria in 2005 and has practiced in mid-tier, suburban and private firms. In 2013, Desi completed a Graduate Diploma of Education with a focus on legal studies and literature. As a certified mental health first aid trainer, Desi is a strong advocate for mental health, the well-being of new lawyers and the profession as a whole. She regularly presents at conferences in Australia as an ambassador for mentally healthy workplaces. In 2019 she contributed to a book chapter on time perspective in relation to wellbeing and productivity in Lexis Nexis’ ‘Wellness for Law: Making Wellness Core Business.’ Most recently Desi joined the International Bar Association’s Wellbeing Taskforce charged with tackling the problem of poor mental health among the world’s lawyers and in promoting policies and working practices to help to improve wellbeing within the legal profession.

Contact: dvlahos@leocussen.edu.au

Richard Martin

Richard heads up byrne dean’s mental health work and he is also involved in its dispute resolution work.

Before byrne·dean he spent 20 years as an employment lawyer in the city of London. He trained and became a partner at London firm Gouldens before that firmed merged with Jones Day where he stayed for a few years post-merger. Wanting to get into management, he joined London firm Speechly Bircham where he led the employment law team and served on the firm’s management committee.

In 2011 he experienced a serious mental breakdown, which resulted in time in hospital and a lengthy recovery process. While life shattering on pretty much every level, the experience forced him to think more about himself and how he reacts and responds to the world, a greater curiosity perhaps. That led him to look at other people in a different way, with that same curiosity, wanting to understand why people do what they do, and to help them to that understanding, both to support them in their work and wider lives, avoid and resolve conflict, but also to promote mental health and help people avoid the experiences he had. Joining byrne·dean in 2013 was the obvious platform to enable that!

He spends a lot of his time delivering training in an increasingly global classroom and help clients think more strategically about mental health and wellbeing withing their organisations. He co-chairs the steering committee of the Lord Mayor of London’s This is Me campaign which is all about using personal story telling to reduce the stigma around mental illness. This was the catalyst for him publishing his first book, This too will pass – Anxiety in a Professional World, which came out in November 2018.

He leads byrne dean’s work on the ground-breaking Mindful Business Charter which is a cross business initiative looking to reduce the unnecessary stress in the ways we work within and between our organisations so as to create healthier and more effective ways of working.

Outside of work, when not taxiing kids about, or watching them perform on stage or field, he is most likely to be cycling, cooking, or spending time in his haven in the Charente countryside in rural France.

Contact: richard.martin@byrnedean.com

Tomás Gabriel García-Micó

Commissioner of International Relations at the Mental Health Institute of Legal Professions; PhD Candidate in Private Law at Universitat Pompeu Fabra; Lawyer

Tomás Gabriel García-Micó is one of the founding members of the Mental Health Institute of Legal Professions in Spain, and since June 2020, the first holder of the office of Commissioner of International Relations of the same institution. Practising Lawyer since June 2016, Tomás Gabriel García-Micó has practised in the private sector (in one of the Big 4 Spanish law firms) and as a self-employed lawyer. Currently, he is taking the PhD in Private Law at Universitat Pompeu Fabra, in Barcelona, with a dissertation about the risks that new medical technologies pose to the current legal systems, aside from that, he has published his research and has taken part in several research projects. More information about his publications and research can be seen here. He has done two international research stays, one at the China-EU School of Law (September 2019) and the second at the Dickson Poon School of Law - King's College London (January-April 2020).

Contact: tomasgabriel.garcia@upf.edu

Oaikhinan Isibor Aigbe

Isibor is a Climate Reality Leader trained by former US Vice President Al Gore, and currently working with the Central Bank of Nigeria as a Legal Officer. He has dedicated over 7 years of his relevant professional experience to community service, legal aid sensitization, civic activism, diversity inclusion and mental wellbeing.

He is committed to strengthening the initiative for lawyers to provide Pro Bono legal services to the most vulnerable people in the society. Therefore, he seeks the opportunity to create a hub for youth development agencies, religious groups, and civil society to work together. He believes that giving back to society and creating awareness for mental wellness should be our priority because healthy lawyers make a robust judicial architecture.

Contact: IAOAIKHINAN@nigerianbar.ng

Satyajit Gupta

Satyajit is a dual-qualified lawyer (India and England) with over 17 years' work experience in top law practices, and is now the Vice President, Assistant GC & Head of India Legal at EXL Service, a NASDAQ listed company focussing on operations management and analytics. Satyajit's work encompasses M&A and general corporate matters, labour & employment laws, contracting, IT and privacy laws. Satyajit was recognized as one of India's best M&A/ Corporate Lawyer in the years 2017 and 2018. Other than work, Satyajit enjoys mentoring young and upcoming lawyers. He is currently the Membership Officer for IBA's Asia Pacific Forum. Recently, Satyajit co-founded Samvedna, a non-profit initiative focussing on mental health & wellness for legal professionals.

Contact: satyajit.gupta@gmail.com

John T. Berry

John T. Berry serves as The Florida Bar’s Legal Division Director supervising the lawyer regulation and professionalism efforts.

Prior to returning to The Florida Bar, he served as Executive Director of the State Bar of Michigan from 2000 - 2006. Before joining the State Bar of Michigan in November 2000, he served as Director of the Center of Professionalism at the University of Florida’s Levin College of Law. He has held previous positions as Assistant Executive Director of the State Bar of Arizona (1998-2000), and as Staff Counsel and Legal Division Director of The Florida Bar (1983-1998). Staff Counsel duties included supervision of lawyer regulation, unauthorized practice of law, ethics, professionalism and the advertising departments. He served for seven years as Florida Assistant State Attorney for the Ninth Judicial Circuit Fraud Division, Orlando, Florida handling white collar and organized crime cases.

Mr. Berry was trained and approved by the Florida Supreme Court as an instructor for judicial education. He is a frequent lecturer throughout the nation and the world, on ethics and professionalism. In addition, Mr. Berry is responsible for the establishment of The Florida Bar’s and the State Bar of Arizona’s Professional Enhancement Program (ethics school) where he participated as a main lecturer. He also was a member of over 15 consulting teams to other states evaluating their ethics and professionalism efforts. He served as liaison for the State Bar of Arizona to the ABA Ethics 2000 Commission and ABA Multijurisdictional Practice Commission.

Mr. Berry served as chair of the ABA’s Professionalism Committee (2003-2006) and has served on the McKay Commission that evaluated lawyer regulation nationwide. He also has served on the ABA’s Discipline Committee, Model Definition of Law Task Force and Bioethics Committee.

Contact: johntberry@aol.com

Banke Olagbegi-Oloba

Banke Olagbegi-Oloba is a Nigerian lawyer, Researcher, Law teacher, Mediator and Arbitrator.

She currently lectures at the Faculty of Law, Department of Jurisprudence and International Law, Adekunle Ajasin University Akungba-Akoko, Ondo State Nigeria. She is the immediate past Treasurer (2018-2020) of the Nigerian Bar Association; American Bar Association Section of International Law's liaison to the Nigerian Bar; current Secretary & Diversity and Inclusion officer, IBA Academic and Professional Development Committee, Governing Council member, Institute of Chartered Mediators and Conciliators (ICMC) in Nigeria and pioneer chair, ICMC Akure, Ondo State Branch.

She has published peer reviewed articles in several local and international journals. She has attended, facilitated and presented in several local and international conferences.

Her research and practice areas include International Law, Arbitration and Mediation amongst others.

Contact: victoria.olagbegi-oloba@aaua.edu.ng

Lucinda Soon

Lucinda Soon is a legal director at Kingsley Napley LLP specialising in professional ethics and legal services regulation. She has over a decade of experience advising law firms on their regulatory obligations and has a particular interest in matters relating to workplace culture and well-being. Lucinda is also a doctoral researcher in organisational psychology at Birkbeck, University of London. Her research focuses on the structural and behavioural risk factors that impact lawyers’ well-being and the steps that firms can take to proactively manage these risks. Her research publications include a substantial systematic review of well-being in the legal profession; the first review of its kind to synthesise the global literature on lawyers’ well-being over the past 50 years. Lucinda is a practising solicitor of England and Wales and holds an MSc in psychology and graduate membership of the British Psychological Society. She is also a trustee for LawCare, the mental well-being charity for the UK legal profession.

Email: lucindasoon@outlook.com

Kuah Boon Theng

Boon Theng is the Managing Director of Legal Clinic LLC, a boutique law firm and domain specialist practice in medical law. She is a graduate of the National University of Singapore Law Faculty and also obtained her Masters in Arts Degree in Medical Ethics & Law from the University of London (King’s College Centre for Medical Law and Ethics).

Appointed Senior Counsel in January 2018, her experience spans the full spectrum of legal work in the healthcare industry, from advising healthcare institutions, professional bodies and healthcare professionals, representing clients in mediation and legal proceedings, and serving on various hospital committees. She is also an adjunct lecturer in various tertiary institutions in Singapore, where she teaches subjects in healthcare law and ethics.

Boon Theng served as the Law Society of Singapore’s Vice President in 2016 and 2017. She is currently co-chairperson of the Law Society of Society’s Mediation Committee, and also a member of the Women in Practice Committee. She serves as a mentor on the Law Society’s mentorship schemes, and has been honoured for her volunteer work for the Ministry of Health.

Contact: boontheng@legalclinic.com.sg

Hanim Hamzah

Hanim Hamzah is the Regional Managing Partner of ZICO Law, a network of independent local law firms with a full presence across all 10 Southeast Asian countries. As Senior Vice Chair of the IBA Law Firm Management Committee, she has dedicated much of her time championing mental wellness, diversity, and inclusion in the legal industry at large.

Contact: hanim.hamzah@zicolaw.com

Amani Khalifa

Amani is a counsel in Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer’s dispute resolution group and an arbitration specialist.

She handles large, complex construction disputes relating to projects throughout the MENA region with an emphasis on the real-estate and oil and gas sectors. She has been recognised as a leader in arbitration by Who’s Who Legal.

She is an arbitrator on the basketball arbitral tribunal, an independent tribunal recognised by FIBA and an anticorruption hearing officer of the Tennis Integrity Unit. Amani also sits frequently as arbitrator in infrastructure disputes throughout the MENA region.

Contact: amani.khalifa@freshfields.com

Susan Lamb

Susan is a lawyer for Shell International specialising in Information Management Compliance. She leads the Care in Legal Programme for Shell Group Legal and was awarded Shell Legal Leadership team individual award for developing and implementing the Programme. She is passionate about creating a culture that supports mental health and believes that lawyers should “thrive not just survive”. She is a Champion for LawCare (a charity that supports mental health and wellbeing in the Legal Community) and a qualified Coach and NLP Master Practitioner.

Contact: susan.lamb@shell.com

Antoinette Moriarty

Antoinette Moriarty is a psychotherapist and organisational consultant. Over the past 20 years she has assisted lawyers, legal teams and law firms to integrate a psychologically informed approach to legal practice. She is particularly interested in the interplay between psychological insight, identity and professional success. Antoinette is the clinical lead of the Law Society of Ireland’s Psychological Services, and the developer of ‘Shrink Me; Psychology of a Lawyer’, a unique feature of Irish professional legal education.

Contact: A.Moriarty@LawSociety.ie

Dr Emma Jones

Dr Emma Jones is a Senior Lecturer in Law and Director of Student Wellbeing for the School of Law at the University of Sheffield, UK. Her research interests focus on the role of emotions and wellbeing in legal education and the legal profession and she has published widely on these issues. She is also a solicitor (non-practising), qualified teacher and mediator and an Associate Fellow of the Honourable Society of the Inner Temple.

Contact: emma.j.jones@sheffield.ac.uk

Elizabeth Rimmer

Elizabeth has been managing and developing charities in the mental health sector for over 20 years. She joined LawCare in 2014 from the Institute of Group Analysis, a membership and training organisation for group psychotherapists. Before that she headed up Alzheimer’s Disease International, a worldwide federation of Alzheimer Associations. Elizabeth started her working life as a solicitor specialising in clinical negligence, practicing at Leigh Day in London.

LawCare is an independent charity offering emotional support, information and training to the legal community in the UK and Ireland. We work to promote good mental health and wellbeing in legal workplaces and drive change in education, training and practice. If you need to talk call us on 0800 279 6888 or visit www.lawcare.org.uk

Contact: erimmer@lawcare.org.uk

Chris Owen

Chris is a member of the Professional Wellbeing Commission of the IBA and past Co-Chair of the European Regional Forum. He promotes practices, policies and new ways of working that encourage wellbeing in the legal workplace. His interest in the area comes primarily from his experience as a corporate partner working in the City as well as many years of study and practice around wellbeing. He seeks to reconcile the practical realities of a high intensity workplace with the need to promote a safe and supportive work environment. He lectures internationally on different aspects of wellbeing including individual skill based learning and effective institutional working practices. In his spare time, he is a mindfulness and wellbeing coach working both on-line and within his local community in Southeast London. Chris has an MBA in Legal Practice Management from Nottingham Law School.

Contact: chris.owen883@gmail.com

Adriana Castro

Adriana is a BLP Partner in the San José office. She specializes in the practice areas of Business Law and Telecommunications, Media & Technology. In addition, she has experience in Dispute Resolution and family-owned business issues.

For over 17 years, she has advised national and transnational companies setting up in Costa Rica as well as in day-to-day matters. Adriana also leads complex cross-border transactions across Latin America and the Caribbean. She is highly regarded by local and multinational clients and has become a trusted advisor in the biggest transactions in the region. Her expertise also includes restructuring, the design and execution of corporate structures, shareholder conflict and organizational aspects of family businesses.

She is described as a lawyer focused on developing and understanding the business of her clients, with a comprehensive vision and great attention to detail, as well as highlighting the clarity of her answers.

Adriana was a Private Law professor at the University of Costa Rica for three years. She is currently the Co-Vice Chari of the the Young Lawyers’ Committee of the International Bar Association (IBA) as well as the Young Lawyer initiatives officer at the Latin American Regional Forum of the IBA.

Locally, she is also a board member of Fundación Jóvenes por Costa Rica, an organization that seeks to promote better economic conditions for younger Costa Ricans by promoting projects that will have an impact in generating jobs, entrepreneurship qualities and better education. Moreover, she is one of the founders and the executive director of the Catalina Vega Foundation, an organization that helps hospitals provide for better facilities for hospitalized babies.

In addition, Adriana participates as an active member of the board of directors of several family-owned businesses.

She joined the BLP team as a legal assistant in 2003 before becoming an associate in 2007. In 2017 she was named Partner of the firm. Previously, she was assistant to the presidency of the Legislative Assembly of Costa Rica.

Contact: acastro@blplegal.com

Alberto Navarro

Alberto Navarro is a Buenos Aires – Argentina based NAVARRO CASTEX Abogados, founding partner (www.navarrolaw.com.ar). His area of expertise is Corporate Law and Finance, Mergers & Acquisitions, Private Equity and Venture Capital. Of both Uruguayan and Argentine citizenship, Mr. Navarro is also admitted into practice in Uruguay where his Firm counts with associated offices.

Mr. Navarro graduated as a lawyer from Universidad de la República, Montevideo, and was admitted into practice in Uruguay (1985) and Argentina (1988), respectively. He also holds an MBA degree from IAE Business School (Buenos Aires, 1987) and a Master in Laws (LLM) from Harvard Law School (Cambridge, Mass., 1989).

Among other professional activities, between 1990 and 1996, Mr. Navarro served as in-house counsel for Cargill –US leading commodity trader, and then as deputy general counsel of Acindar (major non-flat Argentine steel producer; currently Arcelor Mittal Group). In 1996 he set up his own legal practice.

Among his academic curricula, Mr. Navarro founded the Legal Issues in Doing Business area at IAE Business School (1992), where he was a part-time Professor until 2008. Also, and for the past 25 years he has been visiting professor at several local and international universities (i.e. Universidad de San Andrés and Universidad Di Tella, Buenos Aires; Instituto de Empresas, Madrid; Queen Mary Law School, London and Paris branches), as well as actively participated in several international panels and fora, mostly at the International Bar Association (IBA), the American Bar Association (ABA), the New York State Bar Association (NYSBA), the Association Internationale de Jeune Avocats (AIJA), and at the Union Internationale des Avocats (UIA).

Since 1998, and among other prestigious affiliations, Mr. Navarro has been an active member of the IBA, and as such he served as Chair of its Closely Held and Growing Business Enterprises Committee (Legal Practice Division, 2008-2009), Chair of its Professional Ethics Committee (PPID/SPPI, 2015-2016), IBA Council Member on behalf of Colegio Público de Abogados de la Capital Federal, Argentina (2012-present), and Officer of the Bar Issues Commission (BIC; 2017-present).

Mr. Navarro is fluent in Spanish, English and French.

Contact: anavarro@navarrolaw.com.ar

Derek LaCroix

Derek LaCroix, QC, joined LAPBC as our Executive Director in 1997. With 46+ years work experience, he brings a sincere and valued perspective to his commitment to both the organization and to the BC legal profession. Derek practiced law for 19 years, primarily as a trial lawyer and criminal defence lawyer, and went on to expand his skills in business and counseling. This diverse range of interests has helped Derek become a respected leader in the legal, health care and recovery communities. He has served on committees with the Canadian Bar Association and the American Bar Association. He was a Commissioner of the Commission on Lawyer Assistance Programs (CoLAP) and the Chair of the annual CoLAP conference for several years. He is also on several non-profit boards of societies dealing with addictions, education and spirituality. He is often called upon to present seminars and workshops throughout the province, and is tireless in his efforts to make a positive difference in the lives of legal professionals and those who care about them. He received the designation of Queen’s Counsel in 2004.

Contact: derek@lapbc.com

Pooja Chugh

Pooja Chugh is a young and fresh lawyer in northern Canada and the Chair of the Canadian Bar Association Wellbeing Subcommittee. As recent graduate making an entry into the field, Pooja understands and sees the importance of developing mindfulness towards lawyer’s wellbeing early in the career. Pooja has a passion for wellbeing and supporting others to build healthy habits and lifestyles.

Contact: poojah.chugh007@gmail.com

Jonathan Beitner

Jonathan Beitner is a certified coach, consultant, and frequent speaker and author on topics related to attorney development and well-being. He helps attorneys identify and achieve their professional and personal goals and works with firms, law schools, and bar associations to help their lawyers, students, and staff be more productive, happier, and healthier. As a co-creator of the American Bar Association’s Well-Being Pledge, a lead organizer for Well-Being Week in Law, and Chair of the ABA Commission on Lawyers Assistance Programs' Well-Being Committee, Jonathan has experience creating and implementing industry-wide initiatives to help lawyers thrive. Jonathan previously practiced as a commercial litigator at Jenner & Block LLP and clerked for federal judges on the Sixth Circuit and Eastern District of Michigan after graduating from the University of Michigan Law School.

Contact: jonathan.beitner@gmail.com

Izabela Zielińska-Barłożek

Izabela Zielińska-Barłożek leads the Corporate M&A practice in Poland at Wolf Theiss. She is also a Member of the Real Estate Section Advisory Board of the IBA. During her legal practice she acquired an interest in mental wellbeing and completed MBSR (Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction), MBCL (mindfulness based compassionate living) and MBB (Mind Body Bridge) courses to spread the knowledge about the importance of mental wellbeing in the legal profession. She spoke on the subject at several professional events to eventually join the IBA Professional Wellbeing Commission.

Contact: izabela.zielinska@wolftheiss.com