Same Law Different Lens:
Adapting legal practice through a neurodiversity
and trauma-informed lens
A practical half-day workshop for lawyers who want to better understand neurodiversity, trauma and the humans they work with.
Learn how different brains can affect communication, memory, decision-making, deadlines and responses under pressure, and discover practical adjustments you can use in your legal practice the very next day.
Event details
Thursday 15 October 2026
Workshop: 9.00am to 12.30pm AEST
Attend: In-person in Brisbane or live online
CPD: 3 CPD Points
In-person attendees: Stay for lunch and conversation from 12.30pm to 1.30pm
In-person venue: Brisbane CBD
What if your “difficult” client isn’t actually difficult?
What if the client who does not quite answer the question, send the documents, remember your advice or make the decision is not being deliberately unhelpful?
What if their brain is simply processing what is happening differently to yours?
As lawyers, we ask a lot of the humans we work with.
We give them complicated information. We ask them to remember dates, gather documents, respond to emails, understand unfamiliar concepts and make significant decisions.
Very often, we ask them to do all of that while they are experiencing one of the most stressful periods of their lives.
Then we wonder why it does not always work.
Same law. Different humans.
Same Law, Different Lens is a practical half-day workshop exploring what neurodiversity and trauma can mean in legal practice and, importantly, what we as lawyers can actually do with that knowledge.
Neurodiversity and trauma can affect the way a person processes information, communicates, remembers details, manages deadlines, makes decisions and responds under pressure.
In other words, pretty much everything we ask our clients to do every day.
Once we understand that, we can start looking differently at the way we practise.
You will leave with a better understanding of the humans you work with and practical changes you can begin using the very next day.
This is about the practical stuff
During our morning together, we will look at the moments that happen in ordinary legal practice and ask a simple question:
What could we do differently here?
We will explore:
- how neurodiversity and trauma can affect communication, memory and decision-making
- what may be happening when a client seems inconsistent, disengaged, overwhelmed, highly emotional or unable to make a decision
- how to structure emails and advice so they are easier to understand and act on
- how to prepare clients for important meetings, conferences and decisions
- ways to explain the next steps without creating further overwhelm
- how the number and timing of decisions can affect a client’s ability to participate
- simple adjustments to meetings, written communication, instructions, deadlines and follow-up
Sometimes, the most useful changes are surprisingly small.
It might be a change in the way we structure an email. The way we explain the next three steps. How we prepare someone for an important meeting. The number of decisions we ask them to make at once. How we follow up afterwards.
None of these things changes the law.
But they can significantly change a person’s ability to participate in the legal process.
You will leave with
- a practical understanding of how neurodiversity and trauma may show up in legal practice
- a new lens through which to consider client behaviour
- simple ways to adapt meetings, emails and advice
- ideas for reducing overwhelm and supporting better decision-making
- practical changes you can use with clients and colleagues immediately
- 3 CPD Points
This isn't just about clients
There is another important part of this conversation.
The legal profession itself is filled with different brains.
Our colleagues, employees, counsel, experts and many of us sitting in the room may experience the same systems very differently.
We will also consider what a neurodiversity and trauma-informed lens might mean for the way we work together, manage people and design our legal workplaces.
This is not about throwing out everything we already do.
It is about adding another lens.
No diagnosis required
This workshop is not about becoming a psychologist.
It is not about diagnosing our clients.
And it is definitely not about learning another collection of labels that we are terrified we might use incorrectly.
You do not need to know all the terminology. You do not need to be completely confident about what you should and should not say. You certainly do not need to arrive as an expert.
Curiosity is enough.
I will take you through the concepts we need to understand and, most importantly, we will spend our time translating those concepts into the everyday work of being a lawyer.
Because the law does not change.
But the way people process and experience it does.
Who should come?
This workshop is designed for lawyers and other legal professionals who work with humans.
Which, admittedly, does not narrow things down much.
It is particularly useful if you:
- work directly with clients
- lead or manage a legal team
- regularly work with people experiencing stress or significant change
- want to improve communication and client participation
- have wondered why the way we have always done things does not work equally well for everyone
You might already know quite a lot about neurodiversity or trauma.
You might know almost nothing.
You might even be reading this thinking, “I’m not entirely convinced this has anything to do with practising law.”
Come anyway.
This is not really a workshop about labels.
It is about communication, understanding, decision-making and designing legal services that work better for the humans who need to use them.
Same law. Different brains. Different experiences. Different lens.
The details
Thursday 15 October 2026
Your Presenter: Clarissa Rayward
Clarissa Rayward is an accredited specialist family lawyer, mediator and the Director of Brisbane Family Law Centre, a multidisciplinary practice where lawyers work alongside counsellors and financial professionals.
She is also the founder of Happy Lawyer Happy Life, where she supports lawyers across Australia to build legal practices that are more sustainable, humane and effective.
Clarissa brings more than two decades of experience supporting people through stress, vulnerability and significant change, together with a lived awareness of neurodiversity through her family and community.
Clarissa is not presenting as a health professional or seeking to teach lawyers how to diagnose their clients. Her focus is the practical one:
Attend in-person
Workshop: 9.00am to 12.30pm
Lunch and conversation: 12.30pm to 1.30pm
Location: Brisbane CBD
Your in-person ticket includes
- the complete half-day workshop
- lunch and conversation with Clarissa and your fellow attendees
- workshop materials
- 3 CPD Points
Investment:
Individual — $195 + GST
HLHL Clubmate — $150 + GST
Firm Team Ticket — 4 people for $650 + GST
Attend on-line
Join us live from wherever you happen to be.
Workshop: 9.00am to 12.30pm AEST
Online via: Link provided
Your online ticket includes:
- live access to the complete half-day workshop
- workshop materials
- access to the recording
- 3 CPD Points
Investment:
Individual — $195 + GST
HLHL Clubmate — $150 + GST
Firm Team Ticket — 4 people for $650 + GST
Same law. Different lens.
The law may be the same for everyone.
The way people process, understand and experience it is not.
Join me for a practical morning exploring the small changes we can make to communicate more clearly, reduce unnecessary overwhelm and design legal services that work better for the humans who need them.
Thursday 15 October 2026
In-person in Brisbane or live on-line
Reserve your tickets
In-person Individual ticket
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Half-day in-person workshop attendance
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Workshop materials
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Lunch
In-person TEAM ticket
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Half-day in-person workshop attendance for 4 people
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Workshop materials for 4 people
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Lunch for 4 people
On-line Individual ticket
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Half-day on-line workshop access
-
Workshop materials
On-line TEAM ticket
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Half-day on-line workshop access for 4 people
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Workshop materials for 4 people
Club Member Pricing
Club Member In-person Tickets
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Hald-day in-person workshop attendance
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Workshop materials
-
Lunch
Club Member On-line Tickets
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Half-day on-line workshop access
-
Workshop materials
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