Constantly On Call: The Client's Role in the Legal Profession's Mental Health Crisis
Lawyers said many in-house counsel aren't thinking about their impact on the mental health of outside counsel—but they should be.
July 14, 2019 at 07:00 PM
3 minute read
The original version of this story was published on Corporate Counsel
As firms grapple with high rates of attorney addiction, depression and suicide, many lawyers say in-house departments aren't yet examining their own crucial role in improving the profession's mental health culture.
Client demands for fast turnaround times, even on non-urgent matters, can leave outside counsel in constant crisis mode. That stress can lead to frayed relationships and mental health issues such as depression, addiction and anxiety, which firm lawyers are more likely to experience than corporate in-house counsel.
"We're on this crisis level all the time because of the expectations coming from the clients," said Dan Lukasik, the founder of Lawyers With Depression. He said "a change in the relationship" between firms and in-house clients is needed to improve law's mental health culture.
Many lawyers said legal department leaders often don't think about the impact they're having on outside counsel's mental health, or they don't care—clients pay a high rate for quick responses on all matters.
That mindset lacks both empathy and business acumen, said Jim Patton, the former president of the Association of Corporate Counsel's Kentucky and South Florida chapters. Legal departments invest time and resources into building trust and business knowledge with outside counsel partners.
"It's absolutely tanking your own investment if you don't find that healthy balance," Patton said.
Bree Buchanan, the co-chair of the National Task Force on Lawyer Wellbeing and chair of the American Bar Association's Commission on Lawyers Assistance Programs, noted in-house departments that "run their counsel into the ground are not going to get the quality of work they want."
That's partially why Domenic Cervoni, a vice president in the legal department at HSBC North America, said he's open with firms about what is and isn't urgent. He tries to avoid sending work dumps on a weekend. In his experience, firms do the best work for clients who treat them well.
Spectrum Professional Services corporate counsel Angela Han, also a legal wellness coach, takes a similar approach to outside counsel management. When outside counsel is struggling, Han said that "more than anything, what is appreciated is transparency."
But Cervoni and Han are the exception. Patton said many chief legal officers are still "just starting to say, 'We need to solve this.'" General counsel coming to that realization should let their firms know, he added. They could "help save lives, literally," he said.
Patrick Krill, the founder of legal industry mental health consulting firm Krill Strategies, suggested general counsel set clear expectations around responsiveness for emergencies and non-urgent matters. If the situation is not a crisis, he asks, "Can they wait?"
Clients can also show they're serious about mental health by taking firm wellness programs and practices into account when selecting outside counsel, Buchanan and Patton said. They pointed to the changes sparked by general counsel's push for more diversity: Firms will try to give clients what they want.
"We have to change the entire ecosystem and the entire culture and that does involve all stakeholders coming to the table and saying, 'What can we do to do our part?'" Krill said. "Part of that is in-house counsel, and I think they need to be brought into this conversation."
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
NOT FOR REPRINT
© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
You Might Like
View AllFatal Shooting of CEO Sets Off Scramble to Reassess Executive Security
5 minute readTrending Stories
- 1On the Move and After Hours: Riker Danzig; Goldberg Segalla; Rawle & Henderson; Laddey Clark; Volunteer Lawyers for Justice
- 2Waiving a Liability Insurer’s Right to Subrogation—Is It Appropriate?
- 3Judge Approves 23andMe's $30M Data Breach Settlement—With Conditions
- 4DC Circuit Upholds Law Forcing Sale or Ban of TikTok in the US
- 5Adapting for Success: Strategic Insights for Law Firms in 2025 and Beyond
Who Got The Work
Michael G. Bongiorno, Andrew Scott Dulberg and Elizabeth E. Driscoll from Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr have stepped in to represent Symbotic Inc., an A.I.-enabled technology platform that focuses on increasing supply chain efficiency, and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The case, filed Oct. 2 in Massachusetts District Court by the Brown Law Firm on behalf of Stephen Austen, accuses certain officers and directors of misleading investors in regard to Symbotic's potential for margin growth by failing to disclose that the company was not equipped to timely deploy its systems or manage expenses through project delays. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton, is 1:24-cv-12522, Austen v. Cohen et al.
Who Got The Work
Edmund Polubinski and Marie Killmond of Davis Polk & Wardwell have entered appearances for data platform software development company MongoDB and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The action, filed Oct. 7 in New York Southern District Court by the Brown Law Firm, accuses the company's directors and/or officers of falsely expressing confidence in the company’s restructuring of its sales incentive plan and downplaying the severity of decreases in its upfront commitments. The case is 1:24-cv-07594, Roy v. Ittycheria et al.
Who Got The Work
Amy O. Bruchs and Kurt F. Ellison of Michael Best & Friedrich have entered appearances for Epic Systems Corp. in a pending employment discrimination lawsuit. The suit was filed Sept. 7 in Wisconsin Western District Court by Levine Eisberner LLC and Siri & Glimstad on behalf of a project manager who claims that he was wrongfully terminated after applying for a religious exemption to the defendant's COVID-19 vaccine mandate. The case, assigned to U.S. Magistrate Judge Anita Marie Boor, is 3:24-cv-00630, Secker, Nathan v. Epic Systems Corporation.
Who Got The Work
David X. Sullivan, Thomas J. Finn and Gregory A. Hall from McCarter & English have entered appearances for Sunrun Installation Services in a pending civil rights lawsuit. The complaint was filed Sept. 4 in Connecticut District Court by attorney Robert M. Berke on behalf of former employee George Edward Steins, who was arrested and charged with employing an unregistered home improvement salesperson. The complaint alleges that had Sunrun informed the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection that the plaintiff's employment had ended in 2017 and that he no longer held Sunrun's home improvement contractor license, he would not have been hit with charges, which were dismissed in May 2024. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Jeffrey A. Meyer, is 3:24-cv-01423, Steins v. Sunrun, Inc. et al.
Who Got The Work
Greenberg Traurig shareholder Joshua L. Raskin has entered an appearance for boohoo.com UK Ltd. in a pending patent infringement lawsuit. The suit, filed Sept. 3 in Texas Eastern District Court by Rozier Hardt McDonough on behalf of Alto Dynamics, asserts five patents related to an online shopping platform. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Rodney Gilstrap, is 2:24-cv-00719, Alto Dynamics, LLC v. boohoo.com UK Limited.
Featured Firms
Law Offices of Gary Martin Hays & Associates, P.C.
(470) 294-1674
Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone
(857) 444-6468
Smith & Hassler
(713) 739-1250