How to Lead Lawyers

Supervisory Duties, Attorney Well-Being, and Competent Firm Systems

Rome ran on the idea that command came with responsibility for the people under it. California agrees. The minute you manage a firm or supervise another lawyer, Rules 5.1, 5.2 and 5.3 stop treating leadership as a business skill and start treating it as a professional duty.

You know how this goes wrong. An associate stops returning calls. A deadline slips. Nobody says anything until a client does. Almost half the lawyers surveyed in the 2026 ABA study reported high burnout, and more than four in ten reported risky drinking. Those numbers are sitting in your office right now, and Rule 1.1 says the mental, emotional and physical ability to do the work is part of competence.

This two-hour program teaches you what the rules require of you as a supervisor, how to spot impairment in someone you supervise and what to do about it, and how to build the assignment, docketing, workload and feedback systems that keep your firm out of trouble. You’ll leave with a firm measures checklist, an impairment response protocol, a well-being check-in guide, and a case study we work through together.

I ran two law firms. I hired, trained, supervised and evaluated attorneys and staff, and I learned this the hard way before I built any real system for it. You don’t have to.

Time Subject
0:00 – 0:03 Welcome and introduction
0:03 – 0:23 What the 2026 ABA and Gallup data show about lawyers and the people who supervise them
0:23 – 0:48 Your legal duties as a supervising lawyer: Rules 5.1, 5.2, 5.3, 1.1 and 1.3
0:48 – 1:08 When someone you supervise is impaired: Rules 1.4, 1.16(a)(3), 5.1(c), 8.3 and the Lawyer Assistance Program

1:08-1:10 Stretch Break
1:10 – 1:35 Building firm systems that protect competence
1:35 – 1:50 Well-being check-ins with the lawyers you supervise
1:50 – 2:05 Case study: the associate, the missed deadline, and what the managing partner has to do

2:05 – 2:10 Quiz, evaluation and certificate

2 hours. Approval pending with the State Bar of California.

Speaker Biography

Mark C. Daly, JD  |  How to Lead Lawyers: Supervisory Duties, Attorney Well-Being, and Competent Firm Systems

I was admitted to the State Bar of California in November 1999 and have practiced immigration law for 26 years. I twice started, built, managed and sold law practices, in Nashville and Denver. In both firms I personally hired, trained, supervised and evaluated attorneys and staff, and I was responsible for the systems that kept our files, deadlines and client communications on track. I learned leadership the hard way, through trial and error. Those years taught me that when a supervising lawyer gets leadership wrong, the cost shows up in missed deadlines, unhappy clients and exhausted lawyers.

I am a certified professional coach through the Raynor Institute, and I am registered with the Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies as an Unlicensed Psychotherapist. I have completed training in Voice Dialogue, Shadow Work® facilitation, the Gottman Seven Principles, and Emotionally Focused Therapy. As Director of Training for Transformative Training in Denver, I oversaw the company’s leadership development, manager coaching and presentation skills programs for businesses and government agencies.

In 2004, the State Bar of California approved my immigration law and practice management trainings for MCLE credit, and I have been a registered California CLE provider ever since. I also helped design and manage “The Secret Keys for Maximizing Your Fees,” a CLE program my business partner presented to the state bars of Arizona, Maine, Nevada and New Jersey. I have spoken at American Immigration Lawyers Association and Federal Bar Association meetings. Today I provide coaching services to attorneys through the Colorado Lawyer Assistance Program (COLAP) and the Colorado Attorney Mentoring Program (CAMP). I have also mentored dozens of attorneys in law office start-up and practice management.

In 2025, my wife and I took a one-year sabbatical around the world. I came home with a clearer sense of purpose and stepped back from daily practice to launch Actualis Attorney Wellness. My aim is to help attorneys feel good, enjoy life and do the right thing, including as leaders of their own practices and teams.

Qualifications for This Activity

• California attorney. Currently active and admitted to the State Bar of California in November 1999 (Bar No. 202928). MCLE Provider #21025.
• Colorado lawyer well-being programs. Provides coaching services to attorneys using the Colorado Lawyer Assistance Program (COLAP) and the Colorado Attorney Mentoring Program (CAMP).
• Firsthand supervisory experience. Founded, managed and sold two law practices. Directly responsible, as a managing lawyer, for the firm measures, supervision and client-communication practices that California Rules of Professional Conduct 5.1 and 5.3 require.
• California-approved CLE since 2004. Immigration law and practice management trainings approved by the State Bar of California in 2004. Helped design and manage “The Secret Keys for Maximizing Your Fees,” presented to the state bars of Arizona, Maine, Nevada and New Jersey. Speaker at AILA and Federal Bar Association meetings.
• Well-being training. Registered Unlicensed Psychotherapist, Colorado DORA (No. NLC.0108322), bound by statutory confidentiality duties. Brings a trauma-informed approach to recognizing stress, burnout and impairment.
• Director of Training, Lead Facilitator and Coach. Transformative Training (Denver). Designed long-term leadership development programs for government agencies, trained managers to coach their direct reports to improve performance, and taught presentation skills.
• Certified Professional Coach. Raynor Institute. Has coached managing and associate attorneys and staff on conflict management, workload, supervision and burnout.