News

The ABA Well-Being Campaign was launched to improve the substance use and mental health landscape of the legal profession, with an emphasis on helping legal employers support healthy work environment. The primary vehicle for the Campaign is a Pledge calling upon legal employers (including law firms, corporate entities, government agencies and legal aid organizations) to first: 

1. Recognize that substance use and mental health problems represent a significant challenge for the legal profession and acknowledge that more can and should be done to improve the health and well-being of lawyers.
2. Pledge to support the Campaign and work to adopt and prioritize its seven-point framework for building a better future.

Click here to see the list of Pledge Members. 

Click here to view the current MBA Lawyer Well-Being Committee.

Published in the Boston Bar Journal by Heidi Alexander, Filippa Marullo Anzalone, Laurie Cappello

In 2017, multiple nationwide studies on the well-being of lawyers and law students culminated in the release of a report from the National Task Force on Lawyer Well-Being (Task Force Report). The Task Force Report highlighted distressing data indicating that lawyers suffer from depression, anxiety, and substance use at rates higher than the general population. It concluded that the legal profession was at a tipping point and presented recommendations and action plans for building a more positive future. Following the release of this landmark document, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court formed an initial Steering Committee on Lawyer Well-Being to investigate, report on, and issue recommendations regarding the state of lawyer well-being here in Massachusetts.  

That work led to the release of the Steering Committee’s 2019 Report, available here. 

Read the full article, here.