Patrick Krill, the author of the seminal study on problem drinking and mental health in the legal profession, recently partnered with ALM Intelligence on a survey to get a feel for how law firms view these issues within their walls and the industry overall.
Here is the good news. Thirteen Am Law 100 and Am Law 200 law firms have signed on to the American Bar Association-sponsored pledge to do more to deal with substance use and other mental health issues within their firms and our profession at large. Here is the bad news. Only 13 law firms (to date) have signed on. Here is even worse news. Only
“It’s a confidential survey, but it will surely get out that we think there is a problem in our firm and clients won’t hire us.”
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Maybe the views echo an email I received from a Florida lawyer who believes the problem overstated. He has only seen one problem-drinking lawyer in his many years as a member of the bar.
Of course, his anecdotal observations are not predictive of the profession overall, and the study tells a much different story. During my shorter time as a member of the Texas Bar, I’ve seen many lawyers in firms large and small who are problem drinkers, who are dealing with clinical depression, and who have substance use issues beyond alcohol.
I could have sent him the incredibly disturbing alcohol-related photos texted to me from the most recent annual gathering of Florida Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers or the emails I received about the flow of alcohol and inebriation in “private rooms” at the ABA Mid-Year in Vancouver. That is not meant to be an indictment of the very progressive Florida Bar or the ABA. Both are doing a lot to change the messaging and culture on these issues. We are also not a profession of teetotalers.
It’s about being a responsible profession and acknowledging what’s at the tip of our noses. It is a problem that has solutions. Time for a cliché. You are either part of the solution or part of the problem. It’s heartening to see that some firms want to be part of the solution. Disappointing to read the survey response and at least in perception, appear that so many are indifferent. Instead of preaching to the choir maybe it’s time for a follow-up survey to survey non-responders with some simple questions about that indifference. It will probably go into the same email trash bin that the first survey went to.
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While you’re indifferent or too busy, here is a hard reality. You have one or more lawyers in your firm who is struggling, whether it’s drinking, substances, or depression. Because you can’t feel or see the Earth spinning on its axis from your desk or courtroom does not mean it’s stopped.
Forget the studies. Forget the survey. Pay attention to the people around you. Their lives extend beyond the office, courtroom, and billing pressures, encompassing many things they may not feel comfortable telling you about because your office culture discourages such vulnerability. These lawyers have childhoods, families, pets. They love. They marry. They divorce. People in their lives die. Their pets die.
Let’s talk about economics. Every one of these things has an impact on the quality of work they do for you. There is no such thing as a high functioning lawyer who is struggling. There is only a decrease in functioning that may be imperceptible at first but becomes cumulative until it’s costing both the lawyer and your firm on multiple levels.
These are complex issues that won’t change overnight as a profession, but they can begin to morph into a positive culture at a human level right now, one firm at a time and one person at a time.
Let’s start with this. Find that survey you moved to trash and take it. No need to even send it in. You might be surprised at what it tells you about your own beliefs. One person at a time starts with you.
Brian Cuban (@bcuban) is The Addicted Lawyer. Brian is the author of the Amazon best-selling book, The Addicted Lawyer: Tales Of The Bar, Booze, Blow & Redemption (affiliate link). A graduate of the University of Pittsburgh School of Law, he somehow made it through as an alcoholic then added cocaine to his résumé as a practicing attorney. He went into recovery April 8, 2007. He left the practice of law and now writes and speaks on recovery topics, not only for the legal profession, but on recovery in general. He can be reached at [email protected].