Moral Injury in Pro Bono Practice | Advocates Edge CLE

Ever advise a client knowing the law could solve only part of the problem? Feel conflicted between the legal solution and practical implications? Have that one client’s that keeps you awake at night?

This one-hour Minnesota Rule 2H program explores moral injury as an emerging framework for understanding the psychological, emotional, and ethical impact of practicing law when attorneys are repeatedly asked to navigate challenging situations without adequate opportunities for reflection, support, or healing. Participants will learn how moral injury differs from burnout, compassion fatigue, and ordinary occupational stress; recognize signs of moral distress in themselves and colleagues; and explore individual, organizational, and community-based approaches to healing.

Rather than viewing lawyer well-being solely through the lens of individual resilience, this program encourages a broader conversation about healing, recognizing that some of the deepest wounds in legal practice arise from the moral burdens of serving clients within systems that cannot always deliver the justice lawyers seek to achieve

Presented by: Natalie S.T. Netzel, Professor of Law, Mitchell Hamline School of Law

Application pending for one Minnesota Mental Health CLE credit.

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Natalie Netzel is a Professor at Mitchell Hamline School of Law. Her teaching includes criminal law, evidence, child welfare law, professional identity formation, and resilient practice. Professor Netzel’s scholarly and professional work focuses on trauma-informed lawyering and pedagogy, lawyer and law student mental health and well-being, and the ethical and psychological impact of legal practice. Her work examines how exposure to systemic harm, ethical conflict, and chronic stress affect lawyers’ mental health, professional identity, and capacity to sustain meaningful legal practice. She is actively involved in national and state efforts to advance lawyer well-being, including participation in the American Association of Law Schools’ Section on Balance and Well-Being in Legal Education and service on the Minnesota State Bar Association’s Well-Being Committee. She also serves on the Board of Directors of Minnesota Lawyers Concerned for Lawyers, where she supports education, outreach, and resources addressing mental health and impairment in the legal profession.

Prior to joining the faculty, Professor Netzel clerked for the Minnesota Court of Appeals. She earned her B.A. from Hamline University, her M.S.E. in Counseling from the University of Wisconsin–Superior, and her J.D. from Mitchell Hamline School of Law.