Dean Michael Marin, head of the University of New Brunswick's Faculty of Law, opens up about his personal journey with anxiety — and what he’s learned along the way.
In this candid conversation, we explore practical strategies for lawyer wellbeing, from breaking the anxiety-success loop to building resilience through exercise, letting go, and finding a broader community.
Whether you’re a law student, practicing lawyer, or just feeling stuck in the grind, this episode offers tools to not just survive the profession — but reconnect with why you chose it in the first place.
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📚 Resources mentioned:
– The Courage to Be Disliked by Ichiro Kishimi and Fumitake Koga
– Unwinding Anxiety by Dr. Judson Brewer
– Flow by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
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💬 Let us know what resonated — or what you’re still struggling with.
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Show notes:
00:00 Introduction
04:00 Dean Marin’s Top Three Actionable Takeaways
06:43 Personal Struggles with Anxiety
10:33 Understanding Habit Loops
13:21 Improving Mental Health with Exercise
21:27 Starting Small: Building Habits Gradually
21:56 Controlling What You Can Control
23:54 Reputation vs. Integrity
31:06 Broadening Your Community
38:04 The Importance of Mentorship and Support
40:25 Concluding Thoughts on Lawyer Wellbeing
Dylan interviews the Honourable Barbara Lea Veldhuis, a former Alberta judge who recently hung up her judicial robes to open a mediation practice.
Book a mediation with Barb: https://www.oneroundresolution.com/
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00:00 Introduction
01:10 Dropping “Justice” as a title
02:21 Highlights from a storied career
05:21 Mentoring judicial law clerks
07:06 The weight of judicial decision making
08:55 Making a mark as a dissenting judge
12:38 Transitioning to a mediation practice
20:10 Advocacy tips for litigators
26:33 Resolving disputes early in the process
30:05 Writing in plain language
33:12 Getting in touch
Dylan Gibbs and Chiara Concini talk about the strategies that made their judicial clerkship applications successful. Dylan clerked at the Supreme Court of Canada for the Honourable Russell Brown and the Alberta Court of Appeal. Chiara is clerking at the Supreme Court of Canada for Chief Justice Richard Wagner in 2025.
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Show notes:
(0:00) A rare feat--securing an SCC clerkship in 2L
(4:08) How to choose your references
(14:41) Helping your references write strong letters
(17:57) When to start your writing sample
(22:12) Selecting a writing sample
(27:01) Being strategic about course selection
(31:14) How to prepare for interviews
(39:32) Dylan and Chiara talk about mock interviews and the cases they prepared
(52:33) How to write a compelling cover letter
(1:00:46) Concluding remarks