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Each year the ABA Law Student Division and the ABA CoLAP Law School Committee partner on the national Mental Health Day Program. This initiative is intended to spotlight the critical importance of our own well-being, and specific strategies to protect our well-being in law school and in
Most of the law students reading this are attending accredited law schools. But very few of us know what accreditation means. The U.S. Department of Education has recognized the American Bar Association’s Section on Legal
We are here to support you while you study for the bar exam. During this challenging time, we want to encourage you to take care of yourselves and continue to focus on all aspects of your well-being. Your physical and emotional health are critical to your success in life…and on the bar exam.
It’s hard to deny we all spend to much time on our phones. Texts, emails, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Candy Crush, the latest game….the number of hours we spend staring at that little device is frankly embarrassing. It turns out, spending excessive time on our devices is more than
Professor Rhonda Magee, author of The Inner Work of Racial Justice: Healing Ourselves and Transforming Our Communities Through Mindfulness, talks with the ABA Commission on Lawyer Assistance Programs in this Mental Health Day webinar. Prof. Magee is a
As ABA Law Student Mental Health Day comes to us yet again, a journal entry by a 2L in my Legal Profession class offers hope: All of my friends, siblings, and peers talk about mental health. We have all been affected. We are unfiltered, empathetic,
This article originally appeared on the Judicial Intern Opportunity Program page under the Litigation Section of the American Bar Association and was written by Angela Nieves. All rights reserved. This information or any portion thereof may not be copied or
Lawyer well-being and wellness is more than just a theory. There is a whole science underlying the benefits of increasing lawyer effectiveness by encouraging wellness, well-being and implementation of personal and systemic strategies. It’s quantum physics. Seriously. Quantum physics is the study of how the universe works. It explains how
I’ve recently learned of an amazing trick that can help law students improve every aspect of their law school experience – from preparing for class, to memorizing case names, to studying for exams, to handling stress. And it’s absolutely free. So what is this amazing, no-cost, pharmaceutical-free trick? Sleep.
Join the ABA Law Student Division and CoLAP in supporting mental health awareness in the legal profession. You can buy a t-shirt or hoodie with our contest-winning design to raise awareness for the mental health of lawyers and law students across the country. Each comes in a variety of colors, and all proceeds benefit the ABA Commission for Legal Assistance Programs.
As a first-generation lawyer, I really didn’t know what to expect from the practice of law. I wasn’t prepared for the pressure and the stress, and I didn’t know how to overcome the need for perfection and validation that I’d inadvertently nurtured through a lifetime focused on academic performance.
August 2018, on a late Thursday afternoon, I received a call asking me if I was available to come up and meet with a chief assistant state attorney. I was an assistant state attorney in Miami-Dade County, Florida, handling mental health cases, so these requests were common. I
“Dear Ms. Leader, Thank you for your application. Unfortunately, at this time, we are not able to offer…" Sound familiar? Some version of this email has started to grace my inbox as frequently as the latest J. Crew discount code or law school lunch talk
If you have ever picked up a free banana smoothie or granola bar from your law school’s wellness week booths, you are not alone. Free food is great, and law schools do seem to care more about wellness than they used to, but I still find myself asking: how
October is Mental Health Awareness Month, and World Mental Health Day is October 10. We observe this month and day to raise awareness of mental health issues around the world and to increase support for wellness. This day is meant to provide an opportunity for all those affected to talk about
I had a conversation earlier this month with a former director of a state bar Lawyers Assistance Program. This person shared that during regular meetings with the LAP, administrators at law schools in the state often complained, “Students today are just so fragile.” But
In a recent article for The American Lawyer, Joanna Litt recounted the suicide of her husband. She attributed his death to the stresses of his law practice and of being a partner in big law. I saw this article posted at first by a single former
What may be most important to know is that you’re not alone. So many people want to help you succeed if you’ll just open yourself up to them.
Law students face severe stress, frequently leading to a need for treatment for mental illness. For those who have sought treatment, the moral character fitness application raises great anxiety.
Law students and lawyers experience much higher rates of depression, anxiety, stress, and alcoholism than the general public. These problems usually start, or escalate, in law school. Drs. Jeff Fortgang and Shawn Healy, two psychologists with Lawyers Concerned for Lawyers of Massachusetts, examined the various contributing factors, ways of recognizing distress, and suggestions for getting help and staying healthy in "The Full Weight of the Law: How Legal Professionals Can Recognize and Rebound from Depression."
As deans of students with a long history of working on wellness initiatives, we’re here to share some advice on the resources and strategies available to you in this current era—and urge you to speak up and reach out. Here are 10 questions we hear often from worried students and the answers we provide.
Do you ever have the thought that if you had known what law school was like prior to starting - truly knew what it was like - you might have chosen to become a professional bee keeper instead? There are many experiences in life that you cannot fully understand prior to living them. Law school is one of those.
Deciding to go to law school is a major life decision for most students, and it is one that (we hope) is carefully weighed and considered. The financial, intellectual, and time commitment involved is a substantial undertaking. Many students dismiss these challenges, assuming that acceptance into law school
If you're looking for more information and help with mental health issues, visit these links from the ABA Commission on Lawyer Assistance Programs: Webinars “Fierce & Gritty: Resilience Training for Lawyers” “I’ve Got Your Back; You’ve Got My Ear: Suicide Prevention in the Legal Profession” “Keeping Legal Minds Intact: Mitigating Compassion
According to a 2014 Survey of Law Student Well-Being, almost 90 percent of law students had a drink of alcohol in the last 30 days and more than 20 percent admitted to binge drinking in the past two weeks. While lawyers and future lawyers alike
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