By Anietie Akpan and Mahsa Tajipour
Canary in the Coal Mine:
How Lawyer Distress Has Signaled the Need for Wellness Reform in Our Profession
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ccounts of lawyers’ struggles with substance and alcohol abuse, depression, self-harm, and even suicide have sadly become inextricably intertwined with how our profession is practiced and, even more sadly, has grown
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May/June 2020
thehoustonlawyer.com
more common with the rising of new generations of practicing attorneys. These indicators of psychological distress have saturated our profession for years; as the rates of these indicators have remained sustained (indicators that have also seeped into law schools at an escalating level1), it is evident that our profession does not have a mental health problem. Our profession is in a mental health crisis. In order to mitigate this crisis, we must first acknowledge that the nature of our profession often dehumanizes its workforce: lawyers are perceived as a form of human capital whose primary function is to be a critical ingredient in the competitive success of their respective law firms and companies. There is also a unique duality to our profession that makes the grim data of the mental well-being of lawyers especially concerning: not only are lawyers entrusted to protect their clients’ interests, but also to serve as bastions in protecting the rule of law itself. Lawyers’ diminished mental health significantly undermines our ability to fulfill these commitments. To be candid, lawyer wellness has been reduced to an economic commodity used to propel the success of law firms forward (as unhappy and unhealthy lawyers lead to diminished production and performance2). But it is the humanitarian interest in lawyer wellness that this article seeks to emphasize. Although it is universally understood that to be a good lawyer, one has to be a healthy lawyer3, the dialogue as to what “healthy” looks like is incredibly nuanced. This discussion must include an honest analysis of the conditions that contribute to mental health attrition in our profession, as well as examining past efforts to address this delicate and difficult matter. Early Responses to Lawyer Distress Much of the commentary and research on lawyer well-being dates back to the 1980s and 1990s. In 1985, the American Bar Association (“ABA”) first called at-