Vol. 70, No. 5, May
1997
Status of Stress in the Legal Profession
By Dennis W. Kozich
The past 10 years have seen a multitude of articles in both the popular
and legal press on the stresses lawyers experience. There also have been
serious studies conducted that have attempted to understand what is happening
and why.
The American Bar Association's Young Lawyers Section surveyed more than
3,000 lawyers in 1990 and found that "[a] significant number of them
were increasingly dissatisfied with their careers. To a great extent, lawyers
linked their career dissatisfaction to increased levels of mental and physical
stress." 1
The work of Elwork and Benjamin also concluded "[t]hat lawyers'
profession-specific occupational stresses are what causes such high levels
of mental illness and substance abuse ... [as well as being] a major contributing
factor to physical illnesses such as coronary heart disease." 2
The earlier findings were again confirmed in an extensive study on this
subject reported in the 1995-96 Journal of Law and Health . It stated that
"One professional group, lawyers, is particularly subject to psychological
distress which can manifest in a variety of counterproductive actions and
impairments." The study found that "The data and analyses presented
... manifest a highly alarming fact: a significant percentage of practicing
lawyers are experiencing a variety of significant psychological distress
symptoms well beyond that experienced by the general population." 3
Dennis W. Kozich, U.W. 1970, is vice president and
general counsel of MetaStar Inc., Madison, and a consultant to WisLAP. He
also coordinates WisLAP's Stress Helpline. In addition to his law degree,
Kozich holds a Ph.D. in counseling.
Endnotes
1 Amiram Elwork, G. Andrew, H. Benjamin, "Lawyers
in Distress" in Law In a Therapeutic Key: Developments in Therapeutic
Jurisprudence, at 572 (David B. Wexler et al. eds.) (Carolina Academic Press,
1996).
2 Id., at 578.
3 Beck, Sales and Benjamin, Lawyer Distress: Alcohol-related
Problems and Other Psychological Concerns Among a Sample of Practicing Lawyers,
10 J.L. & Health (1995-96) at 1-2. |