Judicial Branch

• Jurisdiction: United States,Federal,Kansas
• Citation: Vol. 92 No. 5 Pg. 13
• Publication year: 2023
• Pages: 13

Judicial Branch No. 92 J. Kan. Bar Assn 5, 13 (2023) Kansas Bar Journal October, 2023

September, 2023

The Kansas Lawyers Assistance Program: It Might Not Be Only What You Think It Is

By Danielle Hall, Executive Director, Kansas Lawyers Assistance Program

In fall 2013, Patrick Krill, who was then serving as the director of the Legal Professionals Program at the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation, approached the American Bar Association Commission on Lawyers Assistance Programs (CoLAP) about joining forces to collectively conduct a study that was the first of its kind. The goal: to study problematic substance use, mental health conditions, and help seeking behaviors within the legal community, specifically among lawyers. By February 2015, this collaborative effort was concluding as the data collected from 19 states was being analyzed. A year later, in February 2016, the results were published in the Journal of Addiction Medicine.

Nearly 13,000 currently practicing lawyers participated. The study found between 21% and 36% of respondents qualified as problem drinkers, and approximately 28%, 19%, and 23% were struggling with some level of depression, anxiety, and consistent stress, respectively. Roughly 11% of respondents u t reported having thoughts of suicide. Notably, this study found that younger lawyers in the first 10 years of practice and those working in private firms experience the highest rates of problem drinking and depression. It also highlighted the extreme reluctance of those suffering to access any sort of assistance or treatment, primarily because of stigma, shame, and fear of being "found out."^[1]

As a direct response to this study — and another that looked at some of these same issues in the law student community^[2]— the National Task Force for Lawyer Well-Being was formed in August 2016. This task force was a collaborative effort among various entities within the legal profession, including the ABA CoLAP, the National Organization of Bar Counsel, the National Conference of Chief Judges, and the Association of Professional Responsibility Lawyers, among several others. It was the first time these national organizations had ever come together in this manner to tackle the important issues surrounding well-being within the profession.

A year later, in August 2017, the task force released a groundbreaking report, The Path to Lawyer Well-Being: Practical Recommendations for Positive Change. It emphasized the need for a proactive and comprehensive approach to promoting well-being within the legal profession and provided 44 recommendations for the profession's key stakeholders — judges, regulators, law firms, law schools, bar associations, professional liability carriers, and lawyer assistance programs — to foster a healthier and more supportive environment in the legal profession and to change the culture and discussion surrounding well-being. Shortly after publication, the Conference of Chief Justices and the ABA adopted resolutions encouraging all jurisdictions to review and consider the report and its recommendations.^[3]

The task force encouraged organizations and individuals to act and implement strategies to promote well-being, reduce stigma surrounding mental health, and enhance the overall quality of life for those in the legal profession. The report has been instrumental in raising awareness, including in our own state, about the importance of lawyer well-being. It has also initiated discussions on systemic changes within the legal profession.

After the report was published, action was taken in Kansas with the formation of the Kansas Task Force for Lawyer Well-Being. In early 2019, then-Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Lawton Nuss sanctioned the formation of a state task force and requested Justice Eric Rosen to serve as the Supreme Court's liaison. The group's mission is to engage in a longterm effort to enhance the culture of the legal profession by prioritizing lawyer well-being in Kansas. The group works in collaboration with the Kansas Lawyers Assistance Program, which also provides administrative support.

Of course, all the above took place before I was appointed as the KALAP executive director in December 2019. Since the start of my tenure, the National Task Force has established a 501(c)(3) organization, the Institute for Well-Being in Law, to continue the work that is needed to attain the goals and vision of the original task force. In addition, several other state and national studies have been conducted and published since Krill's original groundbreaking study. In fact, recent studies show there is an even greater need for response. For instance, in 2020, the California Lawyers Association and the D.C. Bar participated in a study that has now yielded three published papers as...