CLE Program - Communication, Culture, and Change: Working with Law Students and New Attorneys

This one hour online Zoom CLE program explores generational diversity as a core dimension of inclusion in legal workplaces. Age shapes communication styles, expectations about feedback, approaches to technology, attitudes toward work life boundaries, and perceptions of authority. When unexamined, these differences can create friction between experienced attorneys and the law students or newer lawyers they supervise. When understood, these differences can strengthen professional culture and service.

Using diversity defined as the variety of personal experiences, values, and worldviews that arise from differences of culture and circumstance related to age, among other aspects of a person, this session examines how generational differences influence communication norms, mentorship expectations, digital workflows, and professional identity formation.

12:00 - 1:00 p.m. EST

Participants will gain practical tools for:

• Improving communication across generational lines
• Intentional planning for necessary worker accommodations
• Using on-boarding to create an inclusive environment from the start of employment
• Integrating online workflows in ways that support inclusion rather than exclusion
• Setting expectations transparently for students and newer attorneys
• Creating developmentally supportive environments using organization and expectations
• Leveraging generational diversity as a strength in service and innovation
• Planning for first generation and historically underrepresented attorneys joining the workplace

The program is designed for supervising attorneys, partners, judges, administrators, and anyone working with law students or early career lawyers.

MEET THE SPEAKERS

Suzanne Harrington-Steppen
Clinical Professor of LawAssociate Director of Pro Bono Programs
Roger Williams University School of Law

Olivia Milonas
Director, Corporate Counsel Clinical Externship Program and Government Clinical Externship Program
Roger Williams University School of Law

Simone Tubman, Esq.
Assistant Vice President for Institutional Diversity, Equity Compliance, and Title VI
Providence College

MEET THE MODERATOR

Nicole P. Dyszlewski 
Assistant Dean of Academic Innovation, Roger Williams University School of Law

Nicole’s work centers on building a more inclusive and equitable legal system. Her areas of focus include DEIB pedagogy in law schools, mass incarceration, and access to information— topics where she brings both a lawyer’s insightful analysis and a librarian’s relentless curiosity. Nicole is the co-editor of the Integrating Doctrine & Diversity book series, the host of the Integrating Doctrine and Diversity webinar series, and a co-author of the recently published casebook, Race and the Foundations of American Law.

Rhode Island MCLE Credit
This program is pending approval for one DEI Rhode Island MCLE Credit.

CLE Program Registration
$40                              Registration/One RI MCLE DEI Credit

$25                              RWU Law Alumni

$25                              Non-profit/Government

Complimentary           RWU Law Students

Complimentary           RWU Law Faculty & Administration

Cancellation & Refund Policy
RWU Law CLE Program cancellations received by Tuesday, April 7, 2026 are eligible to receive a full refund less a $5 administrative fee. Cancellations received after the stated deadline will not be eligible for a refund. Cancellations are accepted via email at lawevents@rwu.edu