Lawyers Who Live in Pain: Mental Health Issues and Lawyer Misconduct, 0816 COBJ, Vol. 45, No. 8 Pg. 73
| Author | Alec Rothrock, J. |
Wellness: Your Job, Your Career, Your Life
Alec Rothrock, J.
Lawyers Who Live in Pain: Mental Health Issues and Lawyer Misconduct
The epidemic of depression, anxiety, and substance abuse among lawyers is well known. Likewise, a healthy percentage of lawyers implicated in disciplinary matters suffer from mental health issues. Whether the practice of law causes these conditions or whether people who suffer from them are somehow drawn to the profession is a question beyond the scope of this article. It is entirely possible, however, that this question presents a false choice between two accurate explanations.
When lawyers are the subject of a disciplinary complaint, they often seek advice from other lawyers about whether they have in fact violated the Rules of Professional Conduct. Some of these lawyers just need someone with experience to assure them that they have nothing to worry about. This is perfectly normal and prudent behavior. In other instances, however, the lawyer’s concern is so out of proportion to the seriousness of his or her conduct that the real issue centers on the lawyer’s mental health This article presents stories of hypothetical lawyers who struggle with depression, anxiety, or substance abuse, with an emphasis on the challenges they face within the attorney regulation system.
The Anxious Lawyer
The practice of law is fraught with the potential for mistakes leading to liability, disciplinary consequences, or both. Consequently, it can be tormenting for those suffering from chronic and extreme anxiety. Lawyers with these conditions often agonize over their perceived failures, find it difficult to leave their worries at the office, and are unable to engage with the people they love the most. They are prone to divorce, and many are emotionally absentee parents.
When one such lawyer got home from the office, the first thing he did was pour a glass of wine that led to three more. The quality of his sleep suffered from the alcohol, as did his marriage. He lay awake at night worrying about something he did or thought he should have done. He came to work exhausted, overwrought, and irritable.
He dreaded having to speak to clients, opposing counsel, or the lawyers who employed him. He came to loathe what he did for a living, but he lacked the skills and carried too much debt to try anything else. He felt trapped. He got divorced. It broke his heart to think that he could not put his young children to bed at night. The cycle continued.
Compounding the lawyer’s problem was his aversion to conflict and ill-mannered people. It brought the worst out in him, which made him dislike himself. He realized that his choice of the litigation business was a bad one. As American society becomes...
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