#82 The Integration Work Lawyers Need Before AI’s Disruption

Nov 24, 2025

In this enlightening discussion, Clarissa Dominguez, a Professional Development Manager at BakerHostetler and an ICF-certified coach, shares her transformative journey from BigLaw to neuroscience coaching. She addresses the integration crisis in legal practice, advocating for emotional well-being alongside billable hours. Topics include the neuroscience of flow and spirituality in leadership, practical flow triggers, and the impact of AI on law firm values. Clarissa emphasizes reconnecting with one's internal power as essential for thriving in today's legal landscape.

Ask episode

AI Snips

Chapters

Books

Transcript

Episode notes

ANECDOTE

Leaving BigLaw To Rebuild

Clarissa left BigLaw for a year to study neuroscience coaching and rebuild after chronic illness and diagnostic struggles.
She created a 12-week program for women experiencing post-traumatic growth to address identity and emotional cycling.

INSIGHT

The Integration Crisis In Law

Clarissa identifies an "integration crisis" in law where emotional incidents go unprocessed while achievement is rewarded.
This creates high-functioning attorneys who feel disconnected from their core identity and emotions.

ADVICE

Anchor Leadership With Spiritual Practices

Clarissa urges leaders to cultivate spirituality as an anchor amid rapid AI-driven change.
She recommends reflection, stillness, prayer, and community to remain grounded and ethical.

Get the Snipd Podcast app to discover more snips from this episode

Get the app

Clarissa Dominguez couldn’t shake the feeling that traditional therapy was keeping her stuck. Despite years of Western treatment for borderline personality disorder—and pouring most of her 401(k) into healing a chronic illness—she kept cycling through the same emotional patterns.

So she did something most lawyers would never risk:

She walked away from her BigLaw career for an entire year to study neuroscience coaching and rebuild herself from the inside out.

In this episode of Lawyers Who Learn, host David Schnurman speaks with Clarissa — now Professional Development Manager at BakerHostetler — about transforming personal crisis into professional expertise. She designs neuroscience-based leadership programs for Baker’s groundbreaking Business Development Coaching Program, a year-long coaching experience focused on growth, performance, and purpose. Clarissa also partners with The Honor Foundation, coaching transitioning special operations leaders as they move from mission-driven service to purpose-driven civilian life.

After co-presenting at PDC with Harvard Law Professor Scott Westfahl on The Awakened Brain and purpose-driven leadership, Clarissa now brings flow-state science, nervous system regulation, and spiritual anchoring into BigLaw’s achievement-obsessed culture.

Clarissa’s work addresses what she calls the integration crisis in legal practice:

Lawyers climb the ladder of billable hours and business development while ignoring the emotional incidents accumulating along the way. This disconnect between intellectual achievement and emotional wellbeing produces high-functioning attorneys who don’t know who they are anymore.

Her stance is bold: Lawyers need spiritual grounding—reflection, stillness, prayer, community—not just training and productivity hacks. Especially now, as AI begins reshaping the profession and the value of being human becomes the competitive edge.

This conversation offers practical neuroscience-backed tools for legal professionals who feel stuck in chronic stress, achievement addiction, or the exhausting pursuit of external validation.