Utah Bar Journal

Maybe there have been times in your life or practice when you felt near the proverbial “end of your rope.” If so, you are not alone. We all know that the legal profession can be difficult and demanding. The stresses of practicing law: the ever-present press of deadlines, the high stakes involved, our own competitive and perfectionist natures, the pressure from clients to “win,” and the machinations of opposing counsel (to name a few) can all take their toll on the best of us. Add to this the difficulties created by alcohol and drug abuse/addiction, psychological impairment, or any of the myriad afflictions that can plague attorneys, and the results can be disastrous.

Functionally-impaired attorneys (whatever the reason) can, and do, cause great harm to their clients, the legal profession, and ultimately themselves. If you doubt this, real world examples of the fallout can be found in the Discipline Corner of this and previous Utah Bar Journals. Yet, even when things go very wrong, asking for help seems particularly difficult for lawyers. Faced with personal and professional crises, many would, and do, prefer to soldier on without help. It doesn’t need to be this way.

I. Lies, damned lies, and statistics
One out of every four lawyers suffers from stress, and out of 104 occupations studied, lawyers rank first in depression.1 A study by the Johns Hopkins Medical School conducted in 1990 found that practicing lawyers had the highest rate of major depressive disorder among all the occupations surveyed – more than three and a half times than that of other professions.2 This statistic probably hasn’t improved in the interim.

Depression
Depression involves a well-defined set of symptoms, which include a diminished sense of pleasure or loss of enjoyment, called “anhedonia,” a significant increase or decrease in appetite, insomnia or hypersomnia, loss of energy, feeling worthless or guilty, difficulty concentrating, depressed mood, and thoughts of suicide or death.3 More than one lawyer has felt at least some of these symptoms; many lawyers (especially litigators) have felt overwhelmed, guilty, and paralyzed by the stresses of the legal profession.4 Indeed, lawyers consistently exhibit a 17% rate of depression – roughly double that of the general population.5 Applying those statistics to our own bar of approximately 10,000, we can realistically expect that at least 1,700 Utah lawyers will experience depression during their careers. We can also expect that many of these attorneys are not getting the help they need, whatever the reason.

Substance Abuse
The American Bar Association (ABA) estimates that 15 to 18% of lawyers suffer from alcohol and drug abuse.6 By way of contrast, 8 to 10% of the general population is estimated to suffer from these afflictions.7 We have approximately 10,000 members of the Utah Bar today. Applying the ABA statistics, between 1,500 and 1,800 Utah attorneys will experience this problem sometime during their legal careers. An ABA survey of practicing attorneys
in California and New York determined that 50–70% of all disciplinary cases involved alcoholism. Similarly, the Oregon Lawyers Assistance Program (LAP) conducted a study which calculated the costs for malpractice and disciplinary cases.8 The Oregon Bar, through the intervention of their LAP program in documented substance abuse cases alone, demonstrated a savings of over one million dollars in the five year focus period.9

Suicide
Suicide currently ranks as one of the leading causes of premature death among lawyers.10 Male lawyers are twice as likely as the general population to take their own life.11 Practicing lawyers reportedly think about committing suicide far more often than do non-lawyers. In one study of male suicide cases researchers found that male lawyers were twice as likely to commit suicide as the general population. This is not just a distant statistic; as many reading this article know, we have lost some members of our own Bar to suicide in recent years.

Loss of General Life Satisfaction and Decreased Professionalism
A study of California Lawyers by the RAND Institute for Civil Justice found that only half say, if they had to do it over again, they would become lawyers.12 About 40% of young lawyers responding to a career satisfaction survey said that they weren’t getting personal satisfaction from their jobs. In this poll, only a little more than half of the lawyers in private practice were satisfied with their career. This is consistent with the ABA’s 1984 and 1990 findings.

Dr. Isaiah Zimmerman, a psychologist who specializes in counseling lawyers and judges states, “the causal link between high levels of stress and lowered performance is well documented.”13 The stresses of the legal profession, the crush of deadlines, machinations of opposing counsel, the financial pressure, and the desire to “win” in an adversarial system of dispute resolution can make an attorney act in an unprofessional manner. At times when practicing law is stressful and overwhelming it is difficult to maintain the ideals of integrity, responsibility, cooperation, community-mindedness, and altruism our profession should uphold, for our own sakes and that of society.

And let us not forget that judges are susceptible as well. Yes, judges. Remember, judges come from the ranks of lawyers, and judicial robes are not proof against the ravages of depression, alcohol or substance abuse. Judges are subject to the normal spectrum of psychological issues that affect human beings in general and lawyers in particular, including depression, anxiety, and mid-life crises.14

II. But Why Lawyers?

Perfectionism, Pessimism, and Pressure
Several who have studied the issue of lawyers’ proclivity, as a group, to experience substance abuse and depression cite a number of causes. Dr. Lynn Johnson, a local Ph.D. and a valued LHL consultant, published an article about this issue in the January/February 2003 issue of the Utah Bar Journal. Dr. Johnson noted that both lawyers and judges are characterized by tendencies towards perfectionism and pessimism.15 These characteristics, coupled with constant pressure and a significant lack of balance between their personal and professional lives drive many lawyers to become part of the statistics mentioned thus far.

Perfectionism
Law as a profession rewards perfectionism. Perfectionism often guides lawyers to pursue a legal career and certainly assists us to excel in law school and pass the bar. Lawyers are, by necessity, detail oriented – even obsessively so. Yet dotting the i’s and crossing the t’s is part of our stock in trade. Such is required for our best work and serves our clients well.
But there is a negative side to this tendency. Dr. Johnson described the darker side of “perfectionism” as follows:

Perfectionism creates a chronic feeling that nothing is good enough. Perfectionism raises cortisol levels in the body, the stress hormone that is helpful in the short run and very damaging in the long run. High cortisol levels lead to burnout, vulnerability to infections, increased healing time, and mental and emotional depression. Perfectionists are more vulnerable to depression and anxiety, harder to treat with either therapy or drugs, and much more likely to commit suicide when things go very wrong.16

If this description sounds familiar to you, you are not alone. Many attorneys and judges feel this way at times. The stress caused by this tendency towards perfection when the stakes are high, as they often are in the legal profession, only serves to compound the problem. But, wait, there’s more.…

Pessimism
Dr. Johnson identified pessimism as the second characteristic of lawyers and judges. Many attorneys view this simply as a healthy skepticism. After all, attorneys are “cursed with the knowledge of what can (and does) go wrong” in life, love, business, etc., so it is not surprising that we don’t always take things at face value. Whatever name you wish to ascribe to it, pessimism pervades our profession. Indeed it arguably starts even before a lawyer passes the bar exam. For example: in 1990 the Johns Hopkins Medical School published findings from a study examining graduate school programs. One significant finding was that in every graduate school program evaluated, save one, the optimists outperformed the pessimists. And yes, the pessimists outperformed the optimists in law school.17

Pressure
Lawyers are intimately familiar with pressure, as well as the stress and anxiety that accompany it. Remember getting up at 4:30 a.m. to throw-up before your first trial? I do. Whether it is the press of deadlines, personal difficulties, difficulties with a practice, or just the stress and grind of advocacy in our adversarial system of justice, we all face pressure. It is an integral part of our role as advocates; the practice of law requires it.

This pressure, combined with our pessimism, or skepticism if you like, can have its own consequences, especially upon our health. High stress, chronic depression, and growing disillusionment with the practice of law can often flow from living lives full of such pessimism and skepticism. Litigators are especially susceptible, given the high level of intellectual engagement and emotional involvement lawyers experience in many cases. Coupled with the burden of inherently distressing content, the stress of conflict can impair a lawyer’s functioning in both obvious and subtle ways.18

Lawyers and judges are often thrust into the middle of conflict to resolve disputes surrounding the negatives of life, often fighting to minimize their effects on others.19 As lawyers, we carry the burdens of our clients as we represent them to assume and resolve their problems. Indeed, they often assign us the responsibility to satisfactorily resolve their problems, and their fates, in very negative sets of circumstances. Our client’s lives, freedom, and fortunes are at stake, and the chips are down. The stress of our role as an advocate is compounded by the number of cases we have, long hours, and the other difficulties of business and life. Add to this an outlook of trained pessimism, a competitive need to win, the perfectionism that accompanies it, and often very high stakes for our clients (and even ourselves) and, well…you get the point.

LHL Can Help
All contacts with LHL are completely confidential.

The primary role of Utah Lawyers Helping Lawyers (LHL) is to assist attorneys and judges whose lives and/or practices are impaired, whatever the reason. Historically and fundamentally, we assist members of the legal community in recovery. Our secondary mission is to help lawyers and judges with the quality- of-life issues they encounter through the stress and pressures of life and the practice of law.

LHL operates as a clearinghouse to help the lawyer or judge find the professional assistance necessary and best suited to the issue presented. In this regard LHL maintains a network of treatment providers and professional services available throughout the state. LHL also provides volunteer peer-to-peer assistance and support. After all, no one knows what it is like to practice law better than another lawyer, right?

As mentioned previously, LHL’s services are completely confidential. Utah’s Rules of Professional Conduct recognize LHL as an approved provider of lawyer assistance services. This means that LHL members are relieved of the duty to report ethical violations discovered as a result of their LHL work. This is an exception to Rule 8.3 of the Utah Rules of Professional Conduct (which requires lawyers to report misconduct). In short, any misconduct or ethical violation discovered or revealed to a member of LHL will NOT be reported to the Office of Professional Conduct, an employer, or anyone else.

When crisis strikes, LHL is there. However, as the old saying goes, “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” LHL would love to help before things go from bad to worse. Prevention is critical to our own health and to our effectiveness as attorneys and judges. LHL assists our Bar by sponsoring CLE events that focus on the quality-of-life issues lawyers face and providing coping strategies to ease the burden. LHL also maintains a network of professional contacts who provide specialized services in this regard.

Get Involved With LHL
LHL provides an excellent mechanism for concerned attorneys and judges to serve the Bench and the Bar. Our volunteer Board of Directors and attorney volunteers are the heart of LHL. However, LHL’s ultimate success depends upon participation and support from all of you. We welcome your involvement and support. If you cannot volunteer your time but would like to contribute financially, LHL is a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation and all donations are tax-deductible. Please consider whether you can spare any of your time or other resources to help us with our mission to serve lawyers in need of assistance.

Helping a friend or colleague through a tough time is an incredibly rewarding experience. I hope you will join us in serving the members of our Bench and the Bar.
Please feel free to contact us with any suggestions, questions regarding our services, or if we can assist you or someone you know.

Utah Lawyers Helping Lawyers
Telephone: (801) 579-0404
In-state toll free at (800) 530-3743 or
www.LawyersHelpingLawyers.org

1. www.abanet.org/legalservices/colap/home; remarks of ABA President Rob Stein (American Bar Association CoLap website).

2. Patrick Schlitz, On Being a Happy, Healthy, and Ethical Member of an Unhappy, Unhealthy, and Unethical Profession. 52 Vand. L. Rev. 871, 875 (1999). See also, G. Andrew H. Benjamin et al., The Prevalence of Depression, Alcohol Abuse, and Cocaine Abuse Among United States Lawyers. 13 Int’l J.L. & Psychiatry 233, 240 (1990).

3. David R. Edelstein, M.D., Practicing Law, A Challenge to Your Mental Health, CBA Record 24, 27 (1994).

4. Connie J.A. Beck, Bruce D. Sales and Andrew H. Benjamin, Lawyer Distress: Alcohol-Related Problems and Other Psychological Concerns Among a Sample of Practicing Lawyers, 10 J.L. & Health 1,2 (1995-1996).

5. Patrick Schlitz, On Being a Happy, Healthy, and Ethical Member of an Unhappy, Unhealthy, and Unethical Profession. 52 Vand. L. Rev. 871, 875 (1999). See also, G. Andrew H. Benjamin et al., The Prevalence of Depression, Alcohol Abuse, and Cocaine Abuse Among United States Lawyers. 13 Int’l J.L. & Psychiatry 233, 240 (1990).

6. Eric Drogin, Alcoholism in the Legal Profession: Psychological and Legal Perspectives and Interventions. 15 Law & Psychol. Rev. 117, 127 (1991).

7. Id.

8. Richard G. Uday, That Frayed Rope, 16 Utah Bar Journal, Aug/Sept. 2003 at 10.

9. Id.

10. Id. at 8; See also, Meyer J. Cohen, Bumps in the Road, GPSOLO, July August 2001, at 20.

11. Schlitz, supra n. 7 at 881.

12. Schitz, supra n. 7 at 881.

13. James J. Alfini and Joseph N. Van Vooren, Is There a Solution to the Problem of Lawyer Stress? The Law School Perspective, 10 J.L. & Health 61,65 (1996-96).

14. Isaiah M. Zimmerman, Helping Judges in Distress. 90 Judicature July/August 2006 at 10.

15. Uday, supra at 9.

16. Id.

17. Id.

18. Donald C. Murray, Q.C.; Practical Pain Management for Lawyers Exposed to Vicarious Trauma ABA CoLap Conference: Halifax 2007 at 1.

19. Uday, supra at 9.