Identify, Understand, and Respond: The Mental Health Guide for Lawyers

Will Meyerhofer is a psychotherapist and author and former corporate attorney. He is the author of several books, including “Way Worse than Being a Dentist: the Lawyer's Quest for Meaning,” and its sequel, “Still Way Worse than Being a Dentist,” which take a humorous look at the real challenges facing the legal profession in the era of Biglaw. His first book, “Life is a Brief Opportunity for Joy” introduces and elaborates upon concepts central to psychotherapy and serves as an introduction to the field for professional and layman alike. Will has written for the popular blog, AboveTheLaw.com, and maintains his own blog about life, the law and psychotherapy, at www.thepeoplestherapist.com. He has created CLE presentations for Lawline and Lexis, as well as speaking on panels and delivering keynotes at law schools, law firms and corporate legal department events, and has been profiled or interviewed in The Financial Times, the ABA Journal, The American Lawyer, Bloomberg TV, Today.com, and other media outlets. Will attended Harvard College, the NYU School of Law, and the Hunter College School of Social Work. From 1997-1999, Will worked as an associate in the general practice group at Sullivan & Cromwell LLC.  Since 2005 he's operated a private practice in Tribeca, in downtown Manhattan, with a speciality in working with lawyers around workplace issues. For more information about Will and his practice, please visit www.aquietroom.com.

Eileen Travis is the founder and Director of the New York City Lawyer Assistance Program of the New York City Bar Association (NYC LAP). NYC LAP is a free and confidential resource for legal professionals and their families. Established in 1999, the program provides assistance to attorneys, judges, law students and their family members whose personal and professional lives are effected by problems with alcohol and/or drugs; depression, anxiety, stress and burnout; gambling, eating disorders, anger management: personal, family and marital problems, issues of aging and care giving and career transition.

NYC LAP provides consultation, evaluation and assessment, short term supportive counseling, intervention and educational presentations to the Bar and Bench and law schools.

Eileen is a New York State Licensed Clinical Social Worker and holds a Master’s Degree in Social Work from Adelphi University, Garden City New York. She has worked in the addiction and mental health field for over thirty years. Eileen has extensive experience developing programs for community-based agencies and hospitals, including Employee Assistance Programs for medical staff and legal professionals. She also maintains a private psychotherapy and consultation practice for adults and families.

In 2016, Eileen was honored by the Suffolk County Bar Association as a recipient of the Fr. Peter Sweisgood Award and by the Caron Foundation, receiving the 2016 New York City Community Service Award. Both awards are in recognition of her commitment to provide vital services to the New York City legal profession.

Dr. Sarah Church is clinical psychologist with over 20 years of experience in the addiction treatment field. Before founding Wholeview Wellness an innovative outpatient addiction treatment center in midtown Manhattan, she served for 16 years as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Albert Einstein College of Medicine and for 12 years as the Executive Director of the Division of Substance Abuse at Montefiore Medical Center. She completed a predoctoral fellowship in addiction at the Yale University School of Medicine after graduating from Fordham University with a doctorate in clinical psychology and from Columbia University with an AB in psychology. She was appointed by Mayors Bloomberg and De Blasio to the NYC-DOHMH Community Services Board and serves on the Board of the Coalition of Medication Assisted Treatment Providers and Advocates (COMPA) and on the Clinical Advisory Panel for NYS OASAS and is currently the President Elect for the New York State Psychological Association’s (NYSPA) Executive Committee for the Division on Addictions. Internationally, she has provided consultation to the United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime (UNODC) for both Vietnam and Afghanistan as they develop medication assisted treatment centers in their countries.

Joe has been a legal search consultant since 1991 and is the President of Ankus Consulting, Inc. He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania, magna cum laude, with a concentration in Communication Systems and a minor from the Wharton School in Marketing. He graduated from the University of Florida College of Law, with honors, and was a Senior Editor of the Florida Law Review.

Before becoming a legal recruiter, Joe was an associate with two of the nation’s largest law firms- Dechert in Philadelphia and Holland & Knight in Miami. In addition, from 2005-2016 Joe was the Executive Director of the National Association of Legal Search Consultants (NALSC) which is comprised of approximately 200 legal recruiting firms across the nation. Prior to being selected as Executive Director, Joe was a long-standing NALSC Board Member and Past Chair of the Ethics Committee.

Joseph Milowic III serves as Director of Well-Being and Of Counsel at Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, LLP and is a Co-Founder and Treasurer of the Lawyers Depression Project, a nonprofit providing an online peer support community for legal professionals at www.lawyersdepressionproject.org