Anti-Stigma Campaign from The Florida Bar Young Lawyers Division

The Florida Bar Young Lawyers Division (YLD) has launched a #StigmaFreeYLD Campaign to help fight the stigma associated with mental illness in the legal profession. According to the campaign website, “[they] aim to demonstrate that dealing with mental illness is not a weakness, but a sign of strength.”

As part of the campaign, the YLD has produced a series of videos featuring attorneys “just like you who have struggled with mental illness but have built wildly successful practices and found true enjoyment in their lives by taking action and seeking help.”

The YLD is encouraging others to share their stories on social media by using the hashtag #StigmaFreeYLD.

 

Register Now! ABA 2019 National Conference for Lawyer Assistance Programs

Online registration is now open for the ABA 2019 National Conference for Lawyer Assistance Programs taking place September 24-26, 2019 in Austin, Texas. This year’s conference theme is “From Surviving to Thriving: LAPs Lead the Way,” Lawyers Helping Lawyer in Austin.

The conference offers a unique opportunity to learn about issues that directly impact the legal community’s well-being, and the services and resources offered by lawyer assistance programs. There will be sessions of interest for judges, disciplinary staff, bar leaders, lawyer assistance program directors and staff, law school administrators and law firm managers, and abundant opportunities to network with LAP personnel and volunteers from across the United States and Canada.

Register by August 3, 2019 to receive discounted registration rates.

New Podcast on Law Student Mental Health

A recent episode of the ABA Law Student Podcast, presented by the American Bar Association’s Law Student Division, features a discussion on mental health and well-being in law schools. The program description is as follows:

Raising awareness is helping to remove the stigma surrounding lawyer well-being. In this episode of the ABA Law Student Podcast, host Kris Butler talks to Terry Harrell and John Berry about mental health and well-being in the legal profession and law schools. Terry and John talk about how they became involved with mental health awareness in the legal community and explain the types of support available through lawyer assistance programs. They also give their insight on why substance abuse and mental health issues have historically been more prevalent in the legal community, how the ABA Working Group to Advance Well-Being is addressing this crisis, and how law students can get involved.

Terry Harrell is the Executive Director of the Indiana Judges and Lawyers Assistance Program (JLAP) and Chair of the ABA Working Group to Advance Well-Being in the Legal Profession (Working Group). John Berry is the Florida Bar’s Legal Division Director, and a member of the Working Group. Kristoffer Butler is the SBA Executive President at University of Detroit Mercy School of Law.

Listen to the episode, “Mental Health and Well-Being: How Law Students Can Get Help and Help Others,” here.

New: Well-Being Template for Legal Employers

The Policy Committee of the ABA Commission on Lawyer Assistance Programs (CoLAP) and the ABA Working Group to Advance Well-Being in the Legal Profession developed a Well-Being Template for Legal Employers to provide suggested guidelines to legal employers for responding to an employee who is experiencing impairment due to a substance use disorder, mental health disorder or cognitive impairment. The template is intended to serve as a tool that can be modified as needed to suit the individual employer. Each employer should tailor this document to meet the specific needs of its workplace, taking into consideration size, resources and practice setting, as well as consult with labor and employment counsel.

Access the template here.

Upcoming ABA CLE Webinar

Lawyer Well-Being: What’s It Got To Do With Me?

March 27, 2019 at 1pm EDT

Program Description: Join Bree Buchanan (Chair, ABA Commission on Lawyers Assistance Programs and former Director of the Texas Lawyers Assistance Program) and Lindsey Draper (former chair of the ABA Standing Committee on Public Protection in the Provision of Legal Services) as they survey the information on alcoholism, substance use disorders, and mental health issues that many in the legal profession face.

The issues of alcoholism, substance use disorders, and mental health issues are ones which affect all lawyers who care about client protection. Indeed, lawyers struggling to keep themselves well may not be physically, emotionally, or mentally capable of serving their clients ethically. Listen as Lindsey and Bree explain why this is such a big issue for the legal profession and learn how some systems and people are changing the way they have always done business to better serve clients and lawyers.

Our expert panel will help you:

• Develop background knowledge on lawyer wellness
• Link lawyer wellness to client protection, prevention of discipline, and avoiding legal malpractice
• Provide examples of changes made to systems, practices, and personal behaviors that help protect lawyer well-being and better serve clients.

Further complimentary resources are available from the website for the ABA Working Group to Advance Well-Being in the Legal Profession, including a newly published Well-Being Toolkit for Lawyers and Legal Employers.

Register now!

Save the Date: 2019 National Conference for Lawyer Assistance Programs

Mark your calendars for CoLAP’s 2019 National Conference for Lawyer Assistance Programs, “From Surviving to Thriving: LAPs Lead the Way,” taking place September 24-26, 2019 at the Hilton Austin Hotel, Austin, Texas.

The conference will have sessions of interest to judges, disciplinary staff, bar leaders, risk managers, lawyer assistance program directors and staff, law school administrators and law firm managers, as well as abundant opportunities to network with LAP personnel and volunteers. The conference also features an Exhibit Hall of facilities that address substance use disorders, mental health issues and well-being.

This is a unique opportunity to learn about issues that directly impact the legal community’s well-being, and the services and resources offered by lawyer assistance programs.

Check back on the ABA CoLAP website for more information as it becomes available.

Podcast on Law Student Mental Health

In the recent KUAF Public Radio podcast, “Maintaining Mental Health During Law School,” David Jaffe, Associate Dean of Student Affairs at American University’s Washington College of Law, discusses how a variety of factors can contribute to a law student’s stress and anxiety. He explains how important it is for law schools to provide a support system for students, and for students to seek help early on, to prevent new or worsen existing mental health or substance use issues.

Jaffe, who is also the Co-Chair of the ABA Commission on Lawyer Assistance Programs (CoLAP) Law School Assistance Committee, explains how taking time for self-care may seem like lost time for maintaining your competitive edge, but that you will be better for it in the long run. And while stigma and fear of being denied admission to the bar continue to stand in the way of treatment, students should know they are not alone, and that ignoring the issue will only do more harm than good.

Listen to the podcast episode here.

ABA Law Practice Division & DC Bar Publications Feature Health and Wellness

Two bar publications are dedicating their feature articles to health and wellness issues this month.

The January 2019 issue of Law Practice Today from the ABA Law Practice Division is called the “Attorney Well-Being Issue” and includes:

• Crush Your New Year Goals with Psychological Capital, by Martha Knudson
• Managing the Weight of Depression, by Dr. Jeffrey Fortgang and Dr. Shawn Healy
• Reining in Perfectionism, by Jordana Alter Confino
• Well-Being for Attorneys, by Stewart Levine
• Positive Psychology Can Improve Your Relational Well-Being, by Suzann Pileggi Pawelski

Access these articles and more in the January 2019 issue of Law Practice Today.

The January-February 2019 issue of the DC Bar’s publication, The Washington Lawyer, includes:

• A message from DC Bar President Esther Lim, titled “Be Well”
• When Judges Need Help, by Anna Stolley Persky
• Fighting the Stigma, Breaking the Silence: The D.C. Bar Lawyer Assistance Program, by John Murph
• First Person: Stories of Recovery and Resilience, compiled by Jeffery Leon
• Coping & The Road to Wellness, by Sarah Kellogg

Access these articles and more in the January-February 2019 issue of The Washington Lawyer.

Connecticut Bar Association Launches New Lawyer Wellbeing Website

The Connecticut Bar Association (CBA) has launched a new Lawyer Wellbeing Website. The website features a calendar of wellness-related events, on-demand CLE webinars on wellness topics such as mindfulness and emotional intelligence, and articles and toolkits, such as the ABA Well-Being Toolkit for Lawyers and Legal Employers. And of course, it links to Lawyers Concerned for Lawyers-Connecticut, Inc, the organization that provides assistance to those in the Connecticut legal community experiencing substance use or mental health health issues.

Also included is a new Wellbeing Video Series. The first episode in the series, “Living with a Mental Health Condition,” featuring Kathleen Flaherty, CBA member, has three parts: Part 1 – Becoming a Lawyer; Part 2 – Law School and Passing the Bar; and Part 3 – Staying Well and Balanced.

Check out the new CBA Lawyer Wellbeing Website here.

ABA President Bob Carlson on ABA Efforts to Improve Lawyer Well-Being

ABA President Bob Carlson’s “President’s Message,” in the December 2018 issue of the ABA Journal, highlights efforts the ABA is making to improve well-being in the legal profession. Two such initiatives, organized by the ABA Working Group to Advance Well-Being in the Legal Profession, are a toolkit that offers practical guidance to legal employers who want to join the lawyer well-being movement by launching organizational initiatives, and a pledge campaign calling upon legal employers to adopt a seven-point framework to improve the substance use and mental health landscape of the legal profession. The Working Group was formed in September 2017 at the request of Immediate Past-President Hilarie Bass, and continues to operate under the leadership of President Carlson.

A 2016 study conducted by the ABA Commission on Lawyer Assistance Programs (CoLAP) and the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation revealed troubling rates of depression, anxiety and problem drinking among attorneys. President Carlson reminds readers that, “This issue should be important to all of us in the profession.” He writes, “To be an ethical, competent lawyer, you first need to be a healthy lawyer.”

At the 2018 ABA Midyear Meeting in February, the House of Delegates passed Resolution 105 making it ABA policy to support the goal of reducing mental health and substance use disorders, and urging stakeholders within the legal profession to consider the recommendations set out in, “The Path to Lawyer Well-Being: Practical Recommendations for Positive Change,” from the National Task Force on Lawyer Well-Being.

Access the full article, “It’s time to promote our health: ABA mobilizes on multiple fronts to address well-being in the legal profession.”

Also, watch this Video Message from President Carlson on the ABA’s lawyer well-being initiatives.