Proactive versus reactive: regulatory challenges when considering professional wellbeing

Tracy L. Kepler is the Risk Control Consulting Director for CNA’s Lawyers Insurance Program. In this role, she designs and develops content and distribution of risk control initiatives relevant to the practice of law. She collaborates with the underwriting and claims teams to develop and execute strategies for the profitable growth of the program. Tracy lectures frequently at CNA-sponsored events and at state and local bar associations and national seminars hosted by industry-leading organizations. She also writes articles focusing on law firm risk control and professional responsibility issues.   Prior to joining CNA, Tracy served as the Director of the American Bar Association’s Center for Professional Responsibility (CPR), 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. Ms. Kepler has nearly 20 years of experience in attorney regulation as she served as an Associate Solicitor in the Office of General Counsel for the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO), where she concentrated her practice in the investigation, prosecution and appeal of patent/trademark practitioner disciplinary matters before the Agency, U.S. District Courts and Federal Circuit, provided policy advice on ethics and discipline related matters to senior management, and drafted and revised Agency regulations. She also served as Senior Litigation Counsel for the Illinois Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission (ARDC), where she investigated and prosecuted cases of attorney misconduct.   Ms. Kepler has served in various volunteer capacities, including as President, on the Board of the National Organization of Bar Counsel (NOBC), a non-profit organization of legal professionals whose members enforce ethics rules that regulate the professional conduct of lawyers who practice law in the United States and abroad. Ms. Kepler is currently an Adjunct Professor at American University’s Washington College of Law, Georgetown University Law Center and Loyola School of Law (Chicago) teaching Legal Ethics. Committed to the promotion and encouragement of professional responsibility and attorney well-being throughout her career, Ms. Kepler has served on the ABA’s Commission on Lawyers Assistance Programs, is an Advisory Board member of the Institute for Well-Being in Law (formerly the National Task Force on Lawyer Well-Being) and is an author of its Well-Being Report. She is also a Board Member of the Mindfulness in Law Society and the Vice Chair of the ABA IPL Section’s Attorney Well-Being Committee. She is a graduate of Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, and received her law degree from New England School of Law in Boston, Massachusetts.

Ellyn S Rosen is the Regulation and Global Initiatives Counsel of the American Bar Association Center for Professional Responsibility where she advises the ABA Standing Committee on Professional Regulation. Ms. Rosen was Counsel to the ABA Commission on Ethics 20/20 (2009-2013) and advised the ABA Commission on the Future of Legal Services on ethics and regulatory issues. She works closely with the ABA Center for Innovation and Standing Committee on International Trade in Legal Services on professional regulatory matters. She liaises with the Conference of Chief Justices, National Organization of Bar Counsel, and the Association of Professional Responsibility Lawyers. She speaks frequently at international, state, and local bar programs regarding legal ethics and professional regulation. Prior to joining the Center in 1996, Ms. Rosen was a senior litigation counsel with the Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission of the Supreme Court of Illinois. She is Immediate Past-President of the Chicago Council of Lawyers and has long served on the Council’s Executive Committee and Board of Governors. She is the Immediate Past-Chair of the International Bar Association’s Bar Issues Commission Regulation Committee and has been a member of that Committee since 2016. She served on the International Bar Association’s Professional Ethics Committee (2009-2010). She is a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation. Ms. Rosen also serves as an investigator and interviewer for the Illinois Alliance of Bar Associations for Judicial Evaluations. Ms. Rosen received her J.D. with honors from the Indiana University School of Law in Bloomington, Indiana.

Kerri-anne Millard is a lawyer, specialising in policy and legislative development, with over 25 years of experience working for independent regulators across the Victorian public service, including environment protection, earth resources, biosecurity and consumer affairs. Kerri-anne has been with the Victorian Legal Services Board and Commissioner for seven years, and was appointed to her current position in 2018. The Policy and Outreach Division that Kerri-anne oversees is responsible for the delivery of programs and expert advice in relation to policy and regulatory strategy, strategic communications, lawyer wellbeing, research, evaluation and impact, and funded partnerships and programs. Kerri-anne also provides executive support to the VLSB+C’s independent Consumer Panel. Kerri-anne is a passionate collaborator and enjoys achieving strategic outcomes for the Victorian legal profession and consumers of legal services. She is married with two teenage boys and an entitled spoodle (cockapoo) that demands her daily attention.