How to Deal with Challenging Opposing Counsel: 4 Simple Tools to Keep Your Cool [Webinar]

Watch now to get key tools to deal with difficult opposing counsel from Hon. Julie Field (Ret.) and Attorney Heidi Webb with this installment of Webinars for Busy Lawyers.

We’ve all been there – dreading the call with a particular opposing attorney – knowing that they are going to push our limits, and deplete our reserves, without really making any appreciable progress in the case.

What you need to deal with that encounter are a few key tools in your back pocket that can help you keep your cool and focus on what you need. Join Retired Colorado Judge Julie Field and attorney Heidi Webb, both Consilium Institute co-founders, in this conversation where they share four key tools: (1) contextualizing, (2) clarifying, (3) curiosity, (4) connection.

Using handy questions and conversational focuses can help you get to where you need to be, while helping you maintain your compassion and resilience. You’ll leave this short session with useful ways to deal more effectively with even the most challenging opposing counsel.

Q & A from the live program is included in the recording.

ABOUT THE EXPERTS

Hon. Julie Kunce Field (Ret.)

In 2021, Judge Field retired from the trial court bench in the 8th Judicial District for Colorado after almost 11 years, to co-found the Consilium® Institute and J. Field Mediation. Judge Field is recognized throughout Colorado and nationally for her leadership and trainings on issues related to domestic relations, domestic violence, mental health, mediation, trial practice, and judicial and community education. Before her appointment to the bench, Judge Field was a law professor and law clinic director at the University of Michigan, Washburn Law School, and the University of Denver. She founded the Confidentiality Institute in 2001, which focused on the law and ethics related to privacy and safety for victims of domestic violence and sexual assault. As a trial judge, she presided over a mixed docket of felony, complex civil litigation, domestic relations, appeals, and child abuse and neglect, among other cases. She created and oversaw the award-winning Wellness Court, a unique mental health problem-solving court. Judge Field received her B.A. from the University of Nebraska and her J.D. from the University of Chicago. Judge Field’s three passions are (1) helping people figure out things they can’t decide for themselves; (2) teaching; and (3) changing the world for the better. All three of those passions are achievable for Judge Field and for all family law professionals through the innovative Consilium® Institute.

Attorney Heidi Webb, Ed.M., J.D.

Attorney Heidi Webb is the creator of the innovative Consilium Process, which works with clients, attorneys, and judges and other allied professionals to navigate a better way through divorce. Heidi has been licensed to practice law in Massachusetts and before the Federal District and Appeals Courts since 1986. She joined her family’s law firm, Webb, Webb, and Martin, established by her grandfather in 1912. She developed her practice in family law, representing parents and children, as an attorney and Guardian Ad Litem. Heidi is trained as a Mediator and a Collaborative Attorney. Prior to becoming a lawyer, Heidi received her Master’s Degree in Education from Harvard University where she concentrated in Counseling and Consulting Psychology. Heidi has also worked for the Department of Social Services (now DCF) investigating cases of child abuse and neglect, the Mental Health Legal Advisors Committee advising psychiatric patients of their legal rights and the Office of the Middlesex District Attorney. Heidi is a member of the Massachusetts Bar Association, and a former member of the Massachusetts Collaborative Law Council, and of the Social Law Library. She has served as an elected member of the Middlesex County Bar Association. Heidi currently serves on the Board of the Webb Innovation Center for Dyslexia (www.dyslexicswanted.org).

Find related resources in the LCLMA Digital Library: https://www.lclma.org/2025/01/03/how-...