Human Rights and Equality Committee in partnership with the Law Society Professional Training.

Aim and objectives
At this year’s Human Rights Lecture, Judge Ginger Lerner-Wren, County Court Judge of the Misdemeanor Mental Health Court of the 17th Judicial Circuit in Broward County, Florida will speak about her experience as presiding Judge of America’s first Mental Health Court. As described by Judge Wren, the court seeks to divert mentally ill persons, charged with misdemeanor (summary) and non-violent offences, into community based treatment as an alternative to incarceration. The Court defines itself as a human-rights strategy, prioritizing dignity and restorative justice goals.

Chairperson
Gary Lee, Solicitor, Office of the General Solicitor for Minors and Wards of Court, Ireland
Gary Lee is a member of the Council of the Law Society of Ireland and Chair of its Human Rights and Equality Committee. He is a solicitor in the Office of the General Solicitor for Minors and Wards of Court. Prior to his present position, Gary was Managing Solicitor of Ballymun Community Law Centre. He has extensive experience in Disability Law and Mental Health Law. He has chaired Mental Health Tribunals for the past 16 years and is a former chairperson of the Disability Federation of Ireland. Gary has been appointed by Government to a number of bodies including the National Disability Strategy Implementation Group, the Value for Money Review of Disabilities Services Working Group and the Government Taskforce on Personalised Budgets.

Speaker 
Judge Ginger Lerner-Wren, County Court Judge, Florida
Judge Ginger Lerner-Wren is currently the presiding County Court Judge of the Misdemeanor Mental Health Court of the 17th Judicial Circuit in Broward County, Florida. She pioneered the nation’s first therapeutic Mental Health Court in 1997 which has been dedicated to the decriminalization of persons with mental illnesses and neurological disorders. The Court defines itself as a human-rights strategy, prioritizing dignity and restorative justice goals and seeks to divert mentally ill persons, charged with misdemeanor and non-violent offences, into community based treatment as an alternative to incarceration. Judge Lerner-Wren is an adjunct professor for Nova Southeastern University's College of Psychology. She is an expert in therapeutic jurisprudence and problem solving justice and speaks nationally and internationally on mental health courts and policy, therapeutic justice, and cultural change leadership and the law.

• Unless otherwise indicated, our Zoom webinars and meetings are held live and are not recorded. If you miss the live webinar/meeting, you cannot play back the event. You also may not avail of your CPD hours for that event.
• Attendance at live, online webinars and meetings is tracked and logged for CPD compliance purposes. This information will be shared with the Law Society CPD Scheme at their request.
• Solicitors are required to complete 20 hours CPD this year of which 5 hours must be undertaken in person. Please see https://www.lawsociety.ie/Solicitors/rules-legislation/CPD-Scheme/2023-cycle   
• For full programme details download the Brochure
• View our Privacy statement
• If you have technical or other queries, contact the Law Society Skillnet team on lawsocietyskillnet@lawsociety.ie