New study finds widespread mental health concerns among lawyers

A new nationwide study of nearly 37,000 actively licensed lawyers finds substantial levels of mental health distress, burnout, and risky alcohol use across the legal profession.

The study, conducted by the ABA’s Commission on Lawyer Assistance Programs and Krill Strategies, is billed as the largest study of lawyer mental health and well-being to date. Survey participants were drawn from 28 jurisdictions across all four U.S. Census Bureau regions.

About one-fifth of lawyers reported moderate-to-extremely severe symptoms of depression (21.7%), anxiety (20.4%) and stress (18.9%).

Nearly half of lawyers (47.4%) screened positive for high burnout, including 15.6% who met the threshold for severe burnout. Risky alcohol use also remained prevalent, with 41.8% screening positive under standard clinical thresholds.

The study found that 35.9% of lawyers reported high or very high conflict between their professional and personal lives. Younger lawyers showed the highest mental health risk, while lawyers working extreme hours were significantly more likely to experience stress and burnout.

Other findings include:

• 41.1% said time in the legal profession has been detrimental to their mental health.

• 27% have considered leaving the profession because of mental health, burnout, or stress.

• 57% reported observing mental health or substance use problems among colleagues occasionally or regularly.

• Only 39.1% believed their employers were doing enough to support lawyers’ mental health and well-being.

• Only 25.3% believed the legal profession was doing enough.

• 81% said it is important or very important for the profession to devote greater effort to reducing mental health and substance use problems among lawyers.

“The magnitude of this research provides us much greater visibility into the current state of lawyer mental health and well-being,” said Patrick R. Krill, one of the study’s authors. “It is obvious we face meaningful challenges and heightened risk, but the opportunities and desire for change that this study reveals appear equally robust.”

For Florida lawyers, help is available through The Florida Bar’s Florida Lawyers Helpline, a free and confidential service available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

Florida Bar members and Florida Registered Paralegals can call 833-351-9355 (833-FL1-WELL) to speak with a licensed clinician. The Helpline provides mental health and wellness support, including counseling, coaching and resources addressing stress, burnout, substance use, relationship problems and work-life concerns. Members can receive five free counseling sessions per incident, available by phone, video, or in person.

Florida Lawyers is encouraging lawyers to save the number before they need it. The committee also is asking Florida’s chief judges to help make sure information about the Helpline reaches lawyers practicing in their courts.

And lawyers do not have to be in crisis to call. The Helpline is designed to provide an early point of contact for lawyers dealing with problems before they escalate.

More information is available through The Florida Bar’s Florida Lawyers Helpline.

The study, When Demands Equal Distress: An Updated Understanding of Lawyer Mental Health and Well-being, was written by Krill and Justin J. Anker, Ph.D., of the University of Minnesota Medical School.

The full study is published open access in the Journal of Affective Disorders and can be accessed here. Information on the report also can be found here.

 

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