Old Lady Lawyer: Would It Hurt To Help?

The news isn't good for lawyers: as many as one out of every three of us is a problem drinker, and one out of every four of us has some form of depression, stress, or anxiety.

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We all love to indulge in snark, a little or a lot, and I certainly am not one to cast stones or anything else for that matter, but one issue confronting all of us should be snark-free.

According to a recent study conducted by the American Bar Association and the Betty Ford Hazelden Foundation, as many as one out of every three of us is a problem drinker, and one out of every four of us has some form of depression, stress, or anxiety.

No one in the profession (or even outside the profession) should be surprised. We can all agree that practicing law is an extremely intense, pressure-filled, and anxiety-ridden way to make a living. Stressors include, but are not limited to, client interactions (or lack thereof), interactions with opposing counsel, deadline pressure (especially when the statute of limitations is about to run), the often-time nerve-wracking uncertainty of what a court and/or a jury will do or say. Those factors don’t even include personal stressors, such as family, friends, health, finances, and the like. Stress is everywhere in the profession, especially as the profession undergoes profound and lasting changes that affect the abilities of many lawyers to earn livelihoods.

Problem drinking and mental health concerns are not to be dismissed. The stories I’ve heard and read about attorneys who have committed suicide are enough to make all of us pull up short and wonder what the profession has done and is doing to us and what we’re doing to each other.

Just a couple of examples: a jury hands a well-respected respected attorney a seven figure verdict loss; he then loses his job. He has a large loving family, and that doesn’t stop him from killing himself.

A well-respected trial lawyer goes missing; his body washes ashore two weeks after disappearing. Everyone in the community, both legal and otherwise, is stunned and shocked, heaping praise on him, raving about his talents, abilities, and contributions to the community. Too bad he isn’t here to hear them.

In a real chilling note to the report, more than ten percent of the respondent attorneys had entertained suicidal thoughts at some point during their careers. Lawyer suicides are becoming all too common.

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Almost thirteen thousand participated in the ABA Hazelden survey. Granted that it’s not a large percentage, given the total number of lawyers in the country, but it provides sufficient heft to merit credibility. The survey was divided almost evenly between men and women; forty percent of those worked in firms. The most commonly reported age group was between 31 and 40. The participants were overwhelmingly Caucasian. The vast majority of respondents said they handled at least some litigation.

You can read the study for yourself (see link above). The conclusions the study reaches are easy to understand and why there are barriers to treatment are even easier to understand.

No one, especially in this profession where reputation is critical, wants to be tagged as having either a substance abuse problem (of whatever kind) or having any kind of mental health issues, such as anxiety or depression.

One reason: the respondents stated that they didn’t want others to know they needed help. Hmm… would some adversary possibly use this to his or her advantage to the detriment of that lawyer? Given the lack of civility and courtesy in today’s profession, that fear is not unreasonable. We all know opposing counsel who won’t budge an inch to give an extension of time to respond to a complaint, to respond to discovery, to reschedule depositions, or whatever the request may be. Is that because the requesting attorney is asking for something he/she shouldn’t be, or is the opposing attorney so suspicious of motivations that she fears the “give him an inch, he’ll take a mile” situation? Perhaps we need to take a step back before we say no. (“Just say no” is to drugs, not to professional courtesies.)

The second reason that the respondents feared seeking help is the concern for the potential lack of confidentiality and privacy. Even while HIPAA and other statutes protect both of those, word somehow can and does get out. People talk: for example, a bar association event where it’s clear that one attorney has had too many.

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Mental health issues often aren’t as readily displayed as problem drinking. However, some signs might be a lack of interest in work, unexplained absences, inability to concentrate, relationship problems, either at work or at home, temper flare-ups, and other such symptoms that might be attributable to stress, anxiety, or depression (or a combination of more than one of those.)

The study pointed out that attorneys in the first ten years of practice had the highest percentage of problem drinking. No surprise there: everyone knows (or should know unless taking a dirt nap) that those first ten years are the hardest. Trying to get a job, getting a job, keeping a job, proving oneself, crawling up the partnership track which is ever further from the associate’s grasp. The report also pointed out that junior associates are most prone to problem drinking, then senior associates, and on up the chain. Again, no surprise.

Almost thirty percent of us report some level of depression, anxiety, and stress. Of that thirty percent, 61% reported concerns with anxiety, and almost 30% had concerns with depression at some point during their careers.

For those of us old enough to remember 1972, Democratic presidential nominee Senator George McGovern dumped his first running mate, Missouri Senator Thomas Eagleton, when his mental health issues came to light.

Not much has changed since then. Issues of mental health are still stigmatized more than forty years later.

I don’t have any answers, just questions. Would it hurt any of us to help each other? Are we so committed to [expletive deleted] each other that we can’t throttle back, even a little, the circumstances that lead some of us to substance abuse and mental health issues? Are we complicit or complacent? You tell me.


Jill Switzer is closing in on 40 (not a typo) years as a active member of the State Bar of California. Yes, folks, California, that state west of the Sierra Nevada, which everyone likes to diss. She’s had a diverse legal career, including stints as a deputy district attorney, a solo practice, and several senior in-house gigs. She now mediates full-time, which gives her the opportunity to see old lawyers, young lawyers, and those in-between interact — it’s not always pretty. You can reach her by email at oldladylawyer@gmail.com.