This month marks the one-year anniversary of the launch of the Colorado Lawyer Self-Assessment Program's online assessment platform. The Colorado Lawyer Self-Assessment Program lets lawyers evaluate and reflect on their practice. The goal is to help them identify what is working and what could be improved upon. The Office of Attorney Regulation Counsel's objectives in regulating the practice of law in Colorado include helping lawyers successfully navigate the practice of law and better serve their clients. The Colorado Lawyer Self-Assessment Program is one way that the Office seeks to accomplish this objective. Topics addressed in the program range from effectively communicating with clients, to charging appropriate fees, to addressing the access to justice gap. In the course of the past year, new questions have been added to the program. So, too, have new resources. A critical aspect of the program is it provides lawyers with educational resources that give guidance and context on client service, law practice, or ethics issues.

Lawyers who complete the free and voluntary program may download an affidavit and claim up to three general and three ethics continuing legal education credits. To learn more about the program and to begin your own assessment, please follow this link: http://www.coloradosupremecourt.com/AboutUs/LawyerSelfAssessmentProgram.asp. The program may be completed using an online platform survey or through a print, PDF assessment.

Turning to other new proactive practice initiatives, the Office of Attorney Regulation Counsel also supports the work of the Colorado Task Force on Lawyer Well-Being. This Task Force convened for the first time on September 12, 2018, to study how to improve the well-being of lawyers in this state. Justice Monica Márquez is the Colorado Task Force chair. This Colorado Task Force formed following the release of the report of the National Task Force on Lawyer Well-Being, The Path to Lawyer Well-Being: Practical Recommendations for Positive Change, in August 2017. Former Attorney Regulation Counsel James Coyle co-chaired the National Task Force on Lawyer Well-Being prior to his retirement. One of the reasons the National Task Force said that the profession must give the well-being of its members greater priority is well-being is a professionalism issue. It goes to lawyers' fundamental duties owed to clients, including diligence and competence. The Office of Attorney Regulation Counsel welcomes input from Colorado lawyers on ways to advance lawyer well-being in order to share those suggestions with the Colorado Task Force.