Be Well

• Publication year: 2023
• Citation: Vol. 46 No. 4 Pg. 42
• Pages: 42

Be WellNo. Vol. 46 No. 4 Pg. 42Wyoming Bar JournalAugust, 2023

Maryt L. Fredrickson

Competence, Well-Being and Your Attorney Toolbox

Competence is a foundation principle in today's attorney well-being landscape. The American Bar Association's (ABA) National Task Force on Attorney Well-Being launched that landscape when it called the legal profession to action through a Task Force Report in 2017. It cited three reasons for the profession to take notice of well-being: (1) organizational success, so people in firms and organizations do their best work; (2) the ethical obligation of competence; and (3) a humanitarian concern, namely that it was the

The Task Force was a response to empirical data reflecting higher than average rates of substance abuse, depression, unmanaged stress and anxiety, and suicide in the legal profession. Attorney and judicial well-being, and its role on attrition and professional satisfaction, continues to be studied.

right thing to do for ourselves and our peers.^[1]The Task Force was a response to empirical data reflecting higher than average rates of substance abuse, depression, unmanaged stress and anxiety, and suicide in the legal profession.^[2] Attorney and judicial well-being, and its impact on attrition and professional satisfaction, continues to be studied.^[3]

Maryt Fredrickson is staff attorney for the Hon. Lynne J. Boomgaarden in Cheyenne, Wyoming; serves on the Ad Hoc Committee on Attorney WellBeing; and co-chairs the Access to Justice 2.0 working group of the Access to Justice Commission.

This month's column looks at the intersection of competence and well-being. Rule 1.1 of the Rules of Professional Conduct requires "competent representation," meaning "the legal knowledge, skill, thoroughness and preparation reasonably necessary for the representation." According to the ABA Task Force Report, "well-being" is a continuous process where lawyers, judges, law students and legal professionals seek to thrive in all aspects of life. Well-being can be looked at in discrete segments—emotional and mental health, physical health, social connections, occupational satisfaction, intellectual pursuits, aligning with a sense of purpose in life, environmental health and financial health.

Intersections of Well-Being and Competence

Well-being and the duty of competence intersect in several ways. One is through a rule of professional conduct. Rule 1.16(a)(2) governs withdraw-al—an attorney "shall not"...