New wellness class available for Iowa attorneys to complete 2021 CLE requirement

Hope Wood, an experienced estate planning and probate attorney based in Des Moines, Iowa, has combined her expertise from her exercise science and law degrees to launch an on-demand class for Iowa attorneys to satisfy their wellness Continuing Legal Education (CLE) requirement for 2021.

In the Physical Wellness and Fitness to Practice class, attorneys will learn about the connection between self-care and their performance as an attorney. Participants will discover some of the many benefits of physical wellness, like improved cognition and mood, sustained attention, and lower levels of stress.

The one-hour class, available for $15 through Teachable, can be completed online at any time. Topics covered include: 

  • How physical activity improves your body and brain and easy ways to add it to your day

  • How to make nutrition choices without complicated rules

  • The importance of rest and recovery, how to do it when there isn’t time, and how it can prevent future ethics problems

This webinar will fulfill the new Iowa CLE wellness credit requirement Rule 41.3(2) and 42.1(7)., which requires attorneys practicing in the state to take one hour of attorney wellness CLE or one hour of diversity and inclusion CLE as part of their 15-hour annual CLE requirement. The new requirement went into effect for the calendar year 2021 reporting period, which means attorneys must complete the CLE by December 31, 2021.

Hope Wood regularly presents on attorney wellness and mental health. Most recently, she offered an attorney wellness CLE for the Iowa State Bar Association. She has served as a panelist on mental health at the United States Eighth Circuit Judicial Conference and presented on Well-Being During COVID-19 for the Iowa State Bar Association in 2020.

Hope is a member of the Iowa State Bar Association, Polk County Women Attorneys, Polk County Bar Association, and the Iowa Organization of Women Attorneys. She received her JD from Drake University Law School in 2012. Since then, she has written and presented extensively about mental health and physical wellness, which she believes are key for attorneys to effectively serve their clients.

For more information, contact Hope Wood at hope@hopewoodjd.com