University of St. Thomas Law Journal

Why Investing in Attorney Well-Being Can Save Money and Lives

Kiley Munsey*

The legal profession has long been lauded as one that is high stress and high reward. The typical attorney is a stereotype of what we’ve all seen on TV and movies for years; someone high achieving, logical, full of facts, and generally void of emotion. What is becoming increasingly clear is that this idea of an emotionless, high stress practice is not only impractical but also harming attorneys and law students. The legal profession has the highest rates of mental illness, addiction, and chronic stress. Though tools like mindfulness and meditation are known solutions to these problems, firms and attorneys have not fully enveloped them into their culture and practice. To fully create healing for all suffering attorneys and law students, firms must invest in these life changing methods. Doing so will not only raise attorney well-being, but can lead to an increase in profit gain and productivity for attorneys and law students alike.

I. Attorney Wellness: Overlooked and Undervalued

A. Addiction and Mental Illness in the Legal Community

Attorneys have higher rates of problem drinking, suicidal thoughts, depression, and anxiety than all other professions, and nearly triple the rate of self-reported problematic alcohol use compared to the general population.1 About 70% of lawyers are likely to develop alcohol problems over their lifetimes.2 With an ultimate goal of success and profit gain, it can seem as though attorneys and law firms value success and accomplishment over well-being, and physical and mental health.3 Even with high salaries, many attorneys experience a “disenchantment” in the legal field at some point in their careers.4 Some firms offset this high stress environment with an increased salary, using that higher number as a way to combat the general malady of spirit that many attorneys may experience.5 This solution is not really a solution at all, especially when so many “lawyers suffer from depression, anxiety, and addiction far in excess of the general population.”6

Firms are focused on monetary gain, which puts the well-being of attorneys who create that profit at the bottom end of importance. There needs to be a shift in focus towards methods that actually work for improving attorney well-being. Things like support groups, mindfulness, meditation, and reducing the stigma of talking about mental health at work can break these dismal statistics. 

B. Monetary Gain and the Life of a Lawyer  

In 2018, Joanna Litt wrote an open letter to the firm Sidley Austin where her husband, Gabe, was a partner.7 The letter detailed Gabe’s tragic death and why, Litt claimed, “Big Law” killed her husband. About a month before Litt wrote the article, Gabe received an email to come into work for a project on a Sunday morning. Not long after, he shot himself in the parking garage of the law firm office building. While Litt acknowledged her husband suffered from a “deep, hereditary mental health disorder” that contributed to his suicide, she also emphasized the influence Big Law had on his mental health and his death.8 She cited the high-pressure nature of his career and a “culture where it’s shameful to ask for help, shameful to be vulnerable, and shameful not to be perfect.”9 That environment, paired with the other variables in her husband’s life, led to his tragic death. 

Lawyers are generally more successful when they have a more “pessimistic” style, in that they are able to analyze negative events in logical, observational, and stable ways.10 This “prudence” allows attorneys to better predict any potential problems within a legal issue.11 We are taught this in law school from the start: to “issue-spot” and turn every case into a problem that needs to be solved, essentially removing the humanity from these complex situations and making it into something that needs an answer. While this skill is useful in case analysis, it can also lead to “mental distress.”12 When we are always searching for the “problem” or analyzing each situation for what might be wrong, it’s hard to not let that bleed over into your personal life. That practice, along with the stress and overworked nature of the profession, can add to mental health and substance abuse problems. 

In a 2015 study of nearly 8,000 U.S. lawyers in all areas of practice, the strongest predictors of well-being were autonomy, relatedness to others, and motivation; all things that are inherently shaky in the legal profession.13

In law firms, autonomy is hard to come by. Associates are expected to be a part of a corporation that utilizes their labor for a financial goal. Billable hours enforce a system that measures attorneys by their output, not their quality of work, quality of relationships with colleagues or clients, or true productivity.14 The system of billable hours also means that a lawyer must work much longer to hit their hours quota. For example, a lawyer must work 2,420 hours to bill 1,800 hours.15 Junior Associates are also usually given little to no control over the projects they are a part of, limited time with supervising attorneys, and little to no time with the client.16

In 1985, American Lawyer began to publish a list of law firms’ revenues and “profits-per-partner” for each year.17 Earning a spot in the “Am Law” list became a high honor that firms began to strive for. With that new success marker in mind, total gross revenue of the top 100 firms went from $7 billion in 1985 to $71 billion in 2010, and up to $98.75 billion in 2018.18 With these kinds of gains and goals, law firms need labor. Associates are expected to give everything they have to reach these firm goals that they might not even feel connected to, which makes motivation more difficult to feel. Fueling this disconnect is only compounded by the fact that many firms hire associates to create profit, while only about one in twelve become Partner.19

This disconnect doesn’t just occur at firms, it often begins in law school, with “[l]aw students experienc[ing] declining happiness and well-being during their first year in law school.”20 Students have been found to shift away from their interests and more towards values of appearance and image from external sources.21 GPA rankings and the Socratic method teach an adversarial learning environment and encourage competition for external validation.22 As the old adage in law school goes: “Look to your left and then to your right, and three years from now, only one of you will still be here.”23 This is a prime example of the inherent “it’s me or you” culture that law schools are known for that promotes striving for recognition at the expense of your classmates. 

II. How Mindfulness Can Help Lawyers and Law Students Increase Well-being and Become More Effective Legal Advocates

    A. The Benefits of Mindfulness

      It’s a common belief that emotions don’t have a place in the legal field or classroom. Attorneys are expected to think logically, devoid of emotion; however, not only is this an impractical expectation, it’s not productive for the legal profession. It is impossible to divorce our emotions completely from ourselves and our decision making. Not only is it impossible, it would be unwise as there are many benefits to emotion. Psychology shows that emotions help with focus, making decisions, enhancing memory, providing vital social cues, and embracing change.24

      Mindfulness is the ability to enhance self-awareness.25 It has four particular benefits that could aid to an improved legal practice: attention regulation, body awareness, emotional regulation, and change in self-perspective.26 Meditation can also help to build brain skills in attention, learning, memory, and decrease the impacts of distress.27 It can increase the ability of an attorney to focus on one thing at a time.28 Since it’s proven that multitasking is actually not a proven efficient way to operate, this is a crucial skill for lawyers to be as efficient as possible.29 Meditation has been proven to increase gray matter in the brain; reduce the thinning of the prefrontal cortex that comes with aging; and enhance attention, mood, compassion, and empathy.30 Meditation is also linked to improving physical health conditions, such as immune system function, cardiovascular issues, type II diabetes, asthma, PMS, chronic pain, insomnia, anxiety, phobias, eating disorders, and can decrease cortisol levels—a hormone linked to stress.31

      B. Implementing Change

      Some programs have been implemented to create change for the legal community in recent years. All fifty states have some type of assistance program for attorneys, like Lawyer’s Concerned for Lawyers in Minnesota, that offers support to attorneys and law students struggling with addiction and mental health issues.32 For there to be large scale change, however, there must be monetary incentives for firms to invest in lawyer well-being. 

      Across the United States, mental health disorders cost over $200 billion a year, far exceeding the cost of health-related issues.33 Employees who are struggling with mental health issues are generally less productive and have more difficulty concentrating.34 Putting resources towards ensuring attorneys are operating as their “best selves” would show a return on investment for law firms. Not only that, decreasing turnover by ensuring there is less burnout among associates would improve employee retention for firms. Decreasing lawyer attrition is another way for law firms to cut costs and increase their profit gains.35

      A focus on mindfulness would also help ethics and professionalism in the legal community. About “40 to 70 percent of disciplinary proceedings and malpractice claims against lawyers involv[e] substance use or depression, often both.”36 With a focus on decreasing the root of the problem for these issues, an increase in mindfulness teaching is imperative. Mindfulness is proven to be effective in treating anxiety, depression, substance abuse, eating disorders, and chronic pain.37 This is yet another reason law firms should work harder to implement these practices into their everyday culture, for the wellness of their employees.

      * Kiley Munsey is a 3L at University of St. Thomas School of Law (Class of 2025) and a Senior Editor on the St. Thomas Law Review.

      1. Don Karotkin, The Addicted or Mentally Ill Lawyer: Ethics Complaints and Legal Malpractice Claims, 57 Hous. L. 16, 19 (May/June 2020); see also Jarrod F. Reich, Capitalizing on Healthy Lawyers: The Business Case for Law Firms to Promote and Prioritize Lawyer Well-Being, 65 Vill. L. Rev. 361, 364 (2020); Martin E.P. Seligman, Paul R. Verkuil & Terry H. Kang, Why Lawyers are Unhappy, 23 Cardozo L. Rev. 33, 37–38 (2001);Kennon M. Sheldon & Lawrence S. Krieger, Does Legal Education Have Undermining Effects on Law Students? Evaluation Changes in Motivation, Values, and Well-being, 22 Behav. Sci. L. 261, 262 (2004). ↩︎
      2. Reich, supra note 1, at 369 (citing Connie J.A. Beck et al., Lawyer Distress: Alcohol-Related Problems and Other Psychological Concerns Among a Sample of Practicing Lawyers, 10 J.L. & Health 1 (1995); see also Seligman et al., supra note 1, at 37. ↩︎
      3. Karotkin, supra note 1, at 19; Reich, supra note 1, at 361. ↩︎
      4. Seligman et al., supra note 1, at 36; Debra Austin & Rob Durr, Emotional Regulation for Lawyers: A Mind Is a Challenging Thing to Tame,16 Wyo. L. Rev. 387, 387 (2016)(finding that law is considered one of the unhappiest professions). ↩︎
      5. Seligman et al., supra note 1, at 37. ↩︎
      6. Reich, supra note 1, at 361 (citing Connie J.A. Beck et al., Lawyer Distress: Alcohol-Related Problems and Other Psychological Concerns Among a Sample of Practicing Lawyers, 10 J.L. & Health 1 (1995); 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 (1990); Patrick R. Krill et al., The Prevalence of Substance Use and Other Mental Health Concerns Among American Attorneys, 10 J. Addiction Med. 46 (2016); William W. Eaton et al., Occupations and the Prevalence of Major Depressive Disorder, 32 J. Occupational Med. 1079, 1085 tbl.3 (1990)). ↩︎
      7. Paul Caron, ‘Big Law Killed My Husband’: An Open Letter From A Sidley Partner’s Widow, Tax Prof Blog (Nov. 13, 2018), https://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/2018/11/big-law-killed-my-husband-an-open-letter-from-a-sidle
        y-partners-widow.html [https://perma.cc/74MQ-XZB5]. ↩︎
      8. Id. ↩︎
      9. Id. ↩︎
      10. Reich, supra note 1, at 376; see also Seligman et al., supra note 1, at 39–40. ↩︎
      11. Seligman et al., supra note 1, at 41. ↩︎
      12. Reich, supra note 1, at 376; Seligman et al., supra note 1, at 41 (explaining that “pessimism is well-documented as a major risk factor for unhappiness and depression”). ↩︎
      13. Reich, supra note 1, at 383 (citing Lawrence S. Krieger & Kennon M. Sheldon, What Makes Lawyers Happy? A Data-Driven Prescription to Redefine Professional Success, 83Geo. Wash. L. Rev. 554 (2015)); see also Seligman et al., supra note 1, at 37–38. ↩︎
      14. Reich, supra note 1, at 384. ↩︎
      15. The Truth About the Billable Hour, Yale L. Sch. (July 2017), https://law.yale.edu/sites/default/files/area/departme
        nt/cdo/document/billa-ble_hour.pdf [https://perma.cc/ZF2E-2LWF]. ↩︎
      16. Seligman et al., supra note 1, at 42; Reich, supra note 1, at 385–86. ↩︎
      17. Reich, supra note 1, at 389. ↩︎
      18. Reich, supra note 1, at 389. ↩︎
      19. Reich, supra note 1, at 389 (citing Noam Scheiber, The Last Days of Big Law: You Can’t Imagine the Terror When the Money Dries Up, New Republic (July 21, 2013), https://newrepublic.com/article/113941/big-law-firms-trouble-when-money-dries [https://perma.cc/TC96-P5BA]). ↩︎
      20. Sheldon & Krieger, supra note 1, at 275. ↩︎
      21. Sheldon & Krieger, supra note 1, at 281. ↩︎
      22. Seligman et al., supra note 1, at 51. ↩︎
      23. J. Gordon Hylton, Look to Your Left, Then Look to Your Right, Marq. Univ. L. Sch. Fac. Blog (Dec. 9, 2010), https://law.marquette.edu/facultyblog/2010/12/look-to-your-left-then-look-to-your-right-marquette-university-law-school-fall-1919/ [https://perma.cc/M5W2-LXMF]. ↩︎
      24. Austin & Derr, supra note 4, at 388. ↩︎
      25. Austin & Derr, supra note 4, at 407. ↩︎
      26. Austin & Derr, supra note 4, at 408; Britta Holzel et al., How Does Mindfulness Meditation Work? Proposing Mechanisms of Action From a Conceptual and Neural Perspective, 6 Persps. on Psych. Sci. 537, 539 (2011). ↩︎
      27. Austin & Derr, supra note 4, at 405. ↩︎
      28. Austin & Derr, supra note 4, at 406. ↩︎
      29. Charity Scott, Mindfulness in Law: A Path to Well-Being and Balance for Lawyers and Law Students, 60 Ariz. L. Rev. 635, 653–54 (2018). ↩︎
      30. Austin & Derr, supra note 4, at 406. ↩︎
      31. Austin & Derr, supra note 4, at 406. ↩︎
      32. Reich, supra note 1, at 371; see generally Lawyers Concerned for Lawyers, https://mnlcl.org/ [https://perma.cc/5H59-H7LP]. ↩︎
      33. Reich, supra note 1, at 396 (finding that the cost of mental health disorders exceeds the cost burden of heart disease, cancer, stroke, and obesity). ↩︎
      34. Reich, supra note 1, at 398. ↩︎
      35. Reich, supra note 1, at 400 (finding that 44% of associates depart a law firm within three years of being hired and 75% depart within five. The study also found that the estimated cost for replacing an associate ranges from $200,000–$500,000). ↩︎
      36. Reich, supra note 1, at 373–74; Karotkin, supra note 1, at 18–19 (offering stories of attorneys’ finding themselves in legal trouble for cocaine possession; gambling addiction that led to theft, misapplication of fiduciary property, and forgery; and malpractice claims).  ↩︎
      37. Holzel, supra note 26, at 537. ↩︎

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