Biglaw

Biglaw's Big Problem With Mental Health And Substance Abuse

Try as they might, Biglaw firms can no longer ignore these problems.

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Attorneys are struggling with mental health and substance abuse issues, and it continues to be an unspoken reality in Biglaw firms across the globe. What are the leaders of these firms doing about these problems? Do they even care, so long as productivity expectations are met?

To find the answers to these questions, ALM Intelligence teamed up with Well Counseled columnist Patrick Krill and sent confidential surveys with subjects ranging from stigma to culture to policies and education to managing partners, practice group leaders, general counsel, and benefits and HR directors at every single Am Law 200 firm. Considering the importance of this survey, the response rate was shockingly low — only 30 firms responded, with 24 coming from Am Law 100 firms, and six coming from Am Law 200 firms. These issues don’t just occur at certain firms, they occur at every firm, and it’s time for Biglaw to embrace this fact and do something about it.

Despite the disappointing response rate, they revealed several major findings:

The overwhelming majority of law firms report that alcohol abuse, depression and anxiety are occurring at their firms; half said the same about drug abuse. The stigma surrounding substance abuse, addiction and mental health problems is pervasive in Big Law. Firms are providing at least some training and resources around these issues, but they appear to be insufficient, underutilized, or both. In addition, firms worry most about addiction and mental health problems in the context of potential harm to clients, and see stress and workload as the No. 1 driver of the problems.

Let’s get a little more specific about the responses from these 30 firms:

  • 90 percent of the firms that responded either agree or strongly agree that alcohol abuse occurs in the firm;
  • 48 percent agree or strongly agree that drug abuse occurs in the firm; 86 percent agree or strongly agree that depression occurs in the firm; and
  • 93 percent agree or strongly agree that anxiety occurs in the firm.

With the percentages this high among the 30 firms that did respond, it’s simply maddening that 170 other Biglaw firms couldn’t even be bothered to provide this relevant information. These are truths that must be exposed in the legal profession.

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(Table via ALM Intelligence / Patrick Krill)

When it comes to attorneys with mental health issues or substance abuse issues, Biglaw leaders are most concerned about the threat to clients and their firms’ reputation, with damage to attorney productivity and their work environment viewed as secondary worries. After all, who cares if lawyers are drunk and depressed, so long as they’re productive and keeping their problems at home… right? Wrong. “It is completely unreasonable to believe that law firms are somehow exempt from those national trends, despite the historic lack of emphasis they have placed on behavioral health as a key factor in profitability,” Krill says. “While I can certainly understand—and agree with—firms perceiving the most negative impact of substance abuse and mental health problems as being a threat or damage to clients, I remain more convinced than ever that large law firms under-appreciate the profound economic inefficiencies that substance abuse and mental health problems introduce into their operations.”

Although quite a few Biglaw firms have already pledged to help lawyers struggling with these issues, it’s obvious that the rest really need to get with the program — they need to seriously rehab their prejudices and actually assist their attorneys.

ALM Survey on Mental Health and Substance Abuse: Big Law’s Pervasive Problem [Law.com]

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Staci ZaretskyStaci Zaretsky is a senior editor at Above the Law, where she’s worked since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on Twitter or connect with her on LinkedIn.

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