Personality Disorders: Lunch & Learn Series Part 2/4

CLE approved

Legal Representation and Personality Disorder Traits

This program explores how personality disorders and maladaptive personality traits shape behavior, conflict, and engagement in legal settings. Participants will learn how these patterns influence communication, decision-making, and the ability to cooperate during litigation, co-parenting, and treatment processes. The training provides ways for identifying personality-driven dynamics, distinguishing between traits and diagnosable disorders, and understanding their implications for assessment, representation, and intervention. Designed for both legal and mental health professionals, this program emphasizes practical skills for managing high-conflict cases, maintaining boundaries, and supporting clients and families with clarity, consistency, and compassion. 

For Legal Professionals:

This program will help you recognize how personality disorders and maladaptive traits influence client presentation, decision-making, and litigation strategies, allowing you to approach cases with greater precision and foresight. You’ll learn practical techniques for managing communication, reducing escalation, and crafting more effective case plans when these dynamics are present.

For Mental Health Professionals:

This training offers a deeper understanding of how personality-driven traits intersect with therapy, parenting work, and court-involved services, improving your ability to navigate complex relational patterns. You’ll gain strategies for assessment, documentation, and boundary-setting that support ethical, effective treatment when high-conflict traits impact the clinical process.

Learning Objectives for Lunch & Learn on Personality Disorders and Legal Representation

1. Strengthen Understanding of Personality Disorders in Legal Contexts

   • Develop a foundational understanding of common personality disorders and how they may influence communication, decision‑making, and client–attorney interactions.

   • Recognize behavioral patterns that may affect case strategy, client reliability, and risk assessment.

2. Apply Effective Communication and Boundary‑Setting Techniques

   • Practice communication approaches that reduce conflict, increase clarity, and support productive attorney–client relationships.

   • Learn to establish and maintain professional boundaries that protect both the client’s interests and the attorney’s well‑being.

3. Implement Ethical and Procedurally Sound Strategies for Case Management

   • Identify strategies for documenting interactions, managing expectations, and ensuring informed consent when working with clients who may struggle with emotional regulation or impulsivity.

   • Apply ethical guidelines to navigate situations involving diminished insight, fluctuating cooperation, or potential safety concerns.

Bio's

Jason Hutchison is the owner and principal of Hutchison Dispute Resolution LLC, focusing on family law mediation, special master, and consensual special magistrate work.

Jason served on the Hennepin County District Court bench as a referee from 2012-2026, and spent 2016-2026 in Family Court.  

Before then, he was an assistant city attorney and prosecutor and represented private clients in commercial and residential real property transactions and litigation; construction defects litigation; land use, development, and planning; and general civil business litigation.

Jana Deach

With more than two decades of experience, Jana is a nationally recognized family law practitioner trusted by individuals and families facing complex, high-stakes transitions. She is known for her strategic sophistication, discretion, and steady counsel, guiding clients through emotionally charged matters with clarity, confidence, and care—always mindful of long-term financial and family outcomes.

Jana’s practice focuses on complex and high-asset divorces, including matters involving significant wealth, business interests, executive compensation, nonmarital claims, and intricate asset and income structures. She advises clients on custody and parenting arrangements, child support and spousal maintenance, and complex property valuation and division, bringing a refined, solutions-oriented approach to negotiation, settlement, and litigation.

In addition to her advocacy work, Jana is a Rule 114 Qualified Neutral and provides Alternative Dispute Resolution services, including mediation, arbitration, and evaluative processes. Her deep subject-matter expertise and composed and impartial presence make her a sought-after neutral for parties seeking efficient, confidential, and sophisticated resolution outside the courtroom.

Highly engaged in the legal community, Jana is a frequent speaker and published author on advanced family law issues. She also teaches family mediation as an adjunct professor at Mitchell Hamline School of Law and at the Mediation Center of Minnesota, reflecting her commitment to excellence, leadership, and the thoughtful evolution of family law practice.

Jana earned her B.A., magna cum laude, in history from the University of North Dakota. She earned her J.D., with distinction, from the University of North Dakota School of Law, where she was an editor of the University of North Dakota Law Review.