Bias Elimination: Overcoming Resiliency Fatigue and Channeling Ally Empathy

Racism and social-structural-systemic injustices have had (and continue to have) profound, long-lasting negative impacts on lawyers and the communities lawyers serve.

In working toward diversity and inclusion and the elimination of bias in the legal profession, lawyers must gain a deeper understanding of these impacts, “resiliency fatigue,” and the importance of trauma-informed management as the crucial first step in engaging in active empathy to pursue anti-racism.

Darryl Wilson presented an ABA webinar with Raychelle Tasher and Tiffany Haynes, Ph.D. on racial bias and resiliency fatigue.

The webinar aimed to help attendees:

• Identify the deep-seated scars of historical trauma and chronic adversities in the experiences of persons of color.
• Recognize how those impacts affect our colleagues and the communities we serve as legal professionals and use trauma-informed management to address both historically systemic inequalities and acute disturbances (like instances of police brutality).
• Demonstrate how legal professionals can support and promote resiliency while understanding and avoiding “resiliency fatigue.”
• Begin engaging in active empathy in the pursuit of anti-racism and the elimination of bias in the legal profession, including the promotion of equal access to justice for persons of color and diversity and inclusion in the legal workplace.