Virtual Noon hour yoga and a little love/news to you from Assist!

WE'RE HERE FOR YOU AND YOUR FAMILIES!!!

We are in an unprecedented situation as COVID-19 rolls through Alberta. Many lawyers and articling students are working from home and the law schools are delivering classes online. They are worrying about the health of their loved ones, their financial situations and whether they will go stir-crazy social-isolating for at least another month.

Uncertainty can cause stress, anxiety and depression. Don’t feel shame if this what you are experiencing—this is normal in a state of emergency and disruption. And you are not alone. You have friends and colleagues across the province who are experiencing this as well.

Assist’s confidential professional psychological counselling services are available, through therapists who are using social distancing principles or via Skype or telephone. Please call 1.877.498.6898 for more information or to book an appointment.

Crisis counselling continues to be available 24/7 at 1.888.498.6898 (just follow the prompts).

Assist is hearing from lawyers who are feeling alone while trying to keep their practices afloat. Remember that Assist also offers Peer Support—they will connect you with one of their trained lawyer volunteers for personal support by calling 1.877.737.5508.

Assist will be live streaming Assist Yoga online on Wednesdays at noon (see below) and are looking into platforms for drop-in online Red Mug Coffee Circles. And if you just want someone to chat with, please call Eileen, Assist’s Program Coordinator, at 403.571.1063 or Loraine, Assist’s Executive Director, at 403.571.1066.

Assist has resources about coping with COVID-19 on their website and will be adding to this collection as new information and materials become available.

Please follow Assist on social media or visit their website to see how they are creating connections for lawyers during this time. Assist is planning a webinar series with the Chartered Professional Accountants Assist Program. Topics will include Stress and Anxiety During the COVID-19 Crisis and Keeping Your Sanity While Working From Home. Stay tuned for more details.

Wednesday
VIRTUAL Noon Flow Yoga Class for Lawyers,
Articling Students, Law Students and their families!!!

In order to keep you all active and help your stress levels, our brave yogi, Danica, has offered to keep our weekly yoga class schedule alive with a live, virtual flow yoga class you can do from the comfort of your own home! Class will be held at the same time as usual, Wednesday, March 25, from 12:00-12:50. She will walk you through an accessible yoga class that will help you breathe and de-stress. If you are worried about your skill level or whether you are up to it, just put a note in the RSVP below. Danica will do her best to suggest modifications for you if you are new or out of practice.

For those of you social distancing in your homes, we suggest pulling your whole family together and have some fun with it.

Normally, we would have mats available for you but....

Wednesdays at 12:00 noon - 12:50 PM
in your very own home.

You will need to sign up for this class. Once I have your e-mail rsvp, I will send that to Danica and she will send you an invitation by way of Zoom. You will want to get that all set up prior to the class so you don't miss anything!

RSVP

PEER SUPPORT VOLUNTEERS!

We have made the difficult decision to cancel the April 4 training class. We have not set a new date yet. So, there is still time to get into the Calgary training class!

Are you an empathetic lawyer who cares about your peers, would like to help your fellow lawyer, and wish to join a group of the most amazing volunteers ever? We have the position for you!

Just as every human is different, so are each of our needs. We have 10,000 lawyers in Alberta and Assist wishes to fill our volunteer roster with a wide variety of volunteers to help all lawyers brave enough to call in to ask for help.

As a peer support volunteer, you would be looking at a training time commitment of 5 hours on a Saturday (with free lunch & breakfast) and after that, the hard part is waiting for the phone to ring to use your new peer support skills. Peer support volunteers who are interested in speaking about Assist to lawyer groups or writing articles for our communications, can support us in those ways as well.

We are pioneering some new peer support delivery models to respond to the needs of articling students and junior lawyers as identified in the Law Society Articling Student Survey. We are offering drop-in peer support at the Courthouse Cafeteria and also near both law schools, and peer support/practical tips for internationally-trained lawyers.

If this is something that interests you, give us a call! Our next training sessions are:

Calgary: TBA
Field Law Calgary Office
Edmonton June 13th, 2020 at 9:00 am - 1:00 pm
Field Law Edmonton Office

We would love to hear from you!

Sign Me Up!

ASSIST PRESENTATION FOR
FOREIGN TRAINED LAWYERS

Etiquette for Carriage of a File: Court, Settlement
Meetings & Client Management

** SAVE THE DATE **

Thursday, May 14, 2020
6:00 pm – 8:00 pm

Matkovic Allan LLP
Kipling Square (Annex)
Suite 300, 611 – 10^th Avenue SW
Calgary, Alberta

Come join Matia Matkovic of Matkovic Allan LLP, Patricia Sealy of Daunais McKay Harms, and our Peer Support Volunteer Susannah Alleyne as they help to unravel the Alberta court system and its intricacies.

Topics will include:

Court Room Etiquette

Etiquette on a File

How Assist can help you

Coffee/snacks donated by: Flavours of Italy Tours