Camilla Wells and Rebecca Norris
The COMBAR Wellbeing Committee are delighted to welcome Rebecca Norris and Camilla Wells from Trauma Informed Law to talk to members about Stress, overwhelm and trauma in commercial practice.
Commercial legal practice operates at the sharp end of professional pressure. Tight deadlines, significant financial stakes, complex disputes and demanding clients are part of the landscape.
But there is an important distinction between operating under pressure and operating under distress. When pressure escalates beyond a certain threshold, our neurobiology changes in measurable ways. For example, rising hormone levels begin to affect parts of the brain responsible for reasoning, language, chronology, working memory and decision-making. These shifts are not matters of personality or resilience. They are healthy, biological responses.
In legal practice, those responses can shape how we – and our clients – communicate, recall information, assess risk and make decisions.
Drawing on research from neuroscience and psychology, alongside examples from our own work at the Bar, we will examine:
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- The difference between productive stress and cognitive impairment caused by distress
- How heightened emotional states affect memory, communication and decision-making
- The impact of prolonged periods of high-intensity and stress
- Practical ways in which we can recognise and navigate these dynamics in real time
Rather than approaching the subject purely through a wellbeing lens, the session considers the issue as one of professional competence, effective advocacy and risk management.
For those attending in-person, the session will include time for questions and discussion followed by drinks.
The event will take place in the International Arbitration Centre, from 5:30pm to 6.30pm. Drinks will follow from 6.30pm onwards.
Address: 190 Fleet Street, London, EC4A 2AG
The session will be hybrid but will not be recorded as previously advertised.
The event is open to COMBAR members and pupils only.
Please register here.