Wellness
Understanding mental health in the legal profession
Herman Melville wrote that the legal profession is one where “misery hides aloof, so we deem that misery there is none.” In Melville’s story of Bartleby, the Scrivenor, a solicitor watches this silent misery slowly consume and destroy his copyist, Bartleby. Although Melville wrote his tragedy about depression in the legal profession in 1853, it… Read More »
Categories: 2020 January - Finding Your Way, Articles, Wellness, WellnessUsing the MAP to find a healthier way
Although compromised mental health within the legal profession has historically been a widespread and deeply rooted problem, increasing awareness and new resources are building a healthier, more resilient, and stronger profession. That’s where myassistplan.com from the Member Assistance Program (MAP) comes in. The MAP provides Ontario lawyers, paralegals, law students, judges, and family members, with… Read More »
Categories: 2020 January - Finding Your Way, Articles, Wellness, WellnessWarning signs: Why it’s important for lawyers and firms to be proactive about mental health
When lawyers ignore their mental health and fail to act on warning signs, they not only harm their quality-of-life and job satisfaction, they leave themselves open to a claim, or even a cluster of malpractice claims. It’s 10:00 p.m. Do you know where your associates are? A lawyer’s life can be a lonely one. Long… Read More »
Categories: 2020 January - Finding Your Way, Articles, Wellness, WellnessPuttıng the fire out: Dealing with the stress of a malpractice claim
There is simply no doubt about it: making an error or having an action commenced against you is stressful, even for the most successful lawyers. And because almost half of Ontario lawyers in private practice will face a malpractice claim at least once in their career, at some point this stress will be a reality… Read More »
Categories: 2020 January - Finding Your Way, Articles, Wellness, WellnessBook review: A Lawyer’s Guide to Healing
“If I had to pick the most common malady affecting lawyers, it would be alcoholism.” This is according to Don Carroll, former director of the North Carolina Lawyer’s Assistance Program and author of A Lawyer’s Guide to Healing: Solutions for Addiction and Depression. In the book, he examines how addiction and depression manifest in the… Read More »
Categories: 2020 January - Finding Your Way, Articles, Book Review, Content Type, WellnessThe Full Weight of the Law: How Legal Professionals Can Recognize and Rebound From Depression
Law students and lawyers report having a significantly higher rate of depression than the general population. When untreated, depression affects lawyers and their clients, families, friends, and colleagues. In addition to the effects of mental health conditions on lawyers’ lives, the same disorders can lead to substantial disciplinary issues that threaten attorneys’ ability to practice… Read More »
Categories: Book, WellnessCounselling and wellness assistance
The Member Assistance Program (MAP), offered by Homewood Health provides a wide range of services and resources to lawyers, judges, paralegals, law students, and other legal professionals, as well as their families. Perhaps you’re stressed, not sleeping, dealing with marital strife or suspecting you drink too much. Or you may be searching for more information… Read More »
Categories: Articles, Student Issue, Wellness, WellnessHappier where you are, or getting to a better place (2018)
Lawyering is stressful. Lawyers expect to handle the pressures of solving individuals’ high-stakes, emotionally charged problems. What lawyers don’t necessarily anticipate is that they may suffer stress from being stuck in a work situation that is not their first choice. Competition for jobs may mean that a lawyer needs to accept work outside his or… Read More »
Categories: 2018 Student Issue 6, Articles, Content Type, LAWPRO Magazine, LAWPRO Magazine Article Type, Topics, Wellness, WellnessWhere to look for help
The Member Assistance Program (MAP), offered by Homewood Health provides a wide range of services and resources to lawyers, judges, paralegals, law students, and other legal professionals, as well as their families. Perhaps you’re stressed, not sleeping, dealing with marital strife or suspecting you drink too much. Or you may be searching for more information… Read More »
Categories: 2018 Student Issue 6, Articles, Content Type, LAWPRO Magazine, LAWPRO Magazine Article Type, Topics, Wellness, WellnessCoping with changes outside your control
Any real change implies the breakup of the world as one has always known it, the loss of all that gave one an identity, the end of safety. And at such a moment, unable to see and not daring to imagine what the future will now bring forth, one clings to what one knew, or… Read More »
Categories: 2018 February Top Legal Disruptions, Articles, Content Type, LAWPRO Magazine, LAWPRO Magazine Article Type, Topics, Wellness, Wellness