By Joel D. Henriod
This is a good time to be part of Nevada’s legal community. Our courts are busy, our bar is active, and new lawyers are bringing energy and fresh ideas into the profession. Yet even in a thriving legal culture, many of us quietly feel stretched thin. We log long hours, spend more time with screens than with people, and sometimes wonder whether the satisfaction we imagined at the start of our careers has drifted out of reach. It hasn’t. The remedy begins with one word—engagement.
Engagement means showing up, not just logging in. It means taking part in something larger than your billable hours or inbox. The law has always been a human profession—and that is where its strength lies.
Engage for Your Well-Being
We are living through an epidemic of disconnection. It is easy to spend the day online, scrolling and replying, without ever actually being with people.
Our work can start to mirror that pattern. The practice of law often becomes endless screen time—drafting briefs, answering emails, reviewing discovery, and even exchanging bickering texts. Those tasks are necessary, but when they consume every day, they can make the profession feel mechanical and lonely.
Yet our profession depends on people. Law is not just a contact sport of the mind—it is a context where trust and relationships matter. We serve clients better when we know the lawyers across the aisle and the judges on the bench, when our handshake means something, and when our reputation for fairness travels farther than our filings.
If you are feeling unmoored, start small. Attend a mixer. Join a committee. Have lunch with someone who understands the strange mix of duty and pressure that comes with this calling. Engagement restores perspective and, often, peace.
Lean Into What Makes You Human
A newer anxiety is rising too—the fear of obsolescence. With artificial intelligence now drafting and researching, some lawyers quietly wonder whether their skills will still matter. If that is you, take heart and lean in. AI can perform tasks, but it cannot form trust. It cannot read a room, calm a client, or stand up for someone in distress. The future belongs to lawyers who cultivate what no machine can—empathy, judgment, and connection.
So rather than retreat from the changes ahead, lean into what makes you human. Listen. Reason. Care. Lead.
The Bar as a Lifeline
That is where the Clark County Bar Association comes in. The CCBA is not just a membership list—it is a community of people who get it. Our committees, mixers, and programs offer easy ways to connect. If you are an extrovert, you will love it. And if you are an introvert, please come to the mixers anyway. Many of us are introverts—and you will find kindred spirits happy to see you.
Show Up. Volunteer. Renew.
So here is my invitation: renew your membership. Then show up. Volunteer. Meet the colleagues you did not know you needed. The CCBA is small enough to know your name and large enough to give you a platform to grow, to lead, and to be seen.
Engagement is more than a professional habit—it is a safeguard for your mental health, your relevance, and your sense of purpose. We do not just need more lawyers. We need better connected ones. And that begins with you—showing up.
About the author
Joel Henriod is a litigator who specializes in appeals at Henriod Stern. He practices in substantive areas ranging from personal injury and product liability to commercial and public-sector disputes involving election law, breach of contract, taxation, eminent domain, governmental regulation, etc. He serves as CCBA president through 2025.
About the article
This article was originally published in the Communiqué (Nov. 2025), the official publication of the Clark County Bar Association. See https://clarkcountybar.org/about/member-benefits/communique-2025/communique-nov-2025/. The printed magazine will be mailed out to CCBA members on October 30, 2025.
The articles and advertisements appearing in Communiqué magazine do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the CCBA, the CCBA Publications Committee, the editorial board, or the other authors. All legal and other issues discussed are not for the purpose of answering specific legal questions. Attorneys and others are strongly advised to independently research all issues.
© 2025 Clark County Bar Association (CCBA). All rights reserved. No reproduction of any portion of this issue is allowed without written permission from the publisher. Editorial policy available upon request.