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Lawyers And Depression: An Interesting Issue

Is it appropriate for bar admission character and fitness review to delve into a candidate's mental health history?

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Here at Above the Law, we’ve devoted extensive coverage to issues of mental health and mental illness over the years. Our regular readers are well aware of the unfortunate reality that lawyers and law students suffer from depression and other forms of mental illness at unusually high rates.

But here’s an interesting issue that perhaps you haven’t come across: whether inquiries into a person’s mental health, including any history of treatment for mental illness, are an appropriate part of the character and fitness (“C&F”) portion of the bar admission process. It came up in a recent segment on The Docket on MSNBC, hosted by lawyer Seema Iyer. In an interview with Iyer, Starling Marshall, president of the board of the Dave Nee Foundation, argued that sometimes C&F questions deter law students and young lawyers from seeking the help that they need. These bar candidates fear that if they receive and then must disclose mental health treatment, it could prevent them from getting admitted to the bar. Here’s the clip (the key discussion starts around the 3:30 mark):

Starling Marshall — who is, fun fact, a direct descendant of Chief Justice John Marshall — argues that states need to change the way they approach these issues in the C&F process. For example, in some states the questions about mental health are overbroad, and in some states they are paired with questions about criminal convictions, which has the effect of stigmatizing mental illness.

At the same time, because a lawyer with uncontrolled or untreated mental illness could harm clients, one could argue that some inquiry into an aspiring lawyer’s mental health might be appropriate (just as we look into — or are supposed to look into — whether a prospective gun buyer has a history of mental illness). But perhaps the way that some jurisdictions currently approach this sensitive issue needs to be refined and reformed. Readers, what are your thoughts?

P.S. The Dave Nee Foundation, which we’ve mentioned before in these pages, does great work trying to eliminate the stigma associated with depression and suicide. You can support the Foundation by donating or by buying a ticket to their upcoming gala.

The ‘constant fight’ of lawyers’ depression [The Docket / MSNBC]

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