Why Are Lawyers So Unhappy?

By JEENA CHO

Recent research from the American Bar Association suggests that lawyers are really unhappy. Twenty-eight percent of lawyers experience mild or higher levels of depression, 19% experience anxiety, 23% experience chronic levels of stress, and 20.6% of participants struggle with problematic drinking.

In comparison, 11.8% of highly educated workforce screened positive for problem drinking. In terms of frequency of alcohol use, the study found that lawyers screened positive at a much higher rate than physicians and surgeons (36.4% of attorneys, compared to 15% of physicians and surgeons.)

This, of course, begs the question: why are lawyers are so unhappy?

1. We have to deal with unpleasant issues and people

Clients generally go to meet with a lawyer with unhappy news. They have a contract dispute, they’re struggling with debt, they’re facing divorce, etc. Even when clients come to us without a pending dispute, we have to be diligent in spotting potential, future issues. When negotiating a contract on behalf of your client, for example, you’re focusing on getting not only the most favorable terms for your clients, but anticipating future litigation.

Lawyers are charged with taking other people’s problems and solving them using a tool called “the law” that’s very poorly designed for the task. As a bankruptcy lawyer, I often find that clients come to me, beaten down, tired of struggling with an overwhelming debt, and they’re hiring me to fix their financial troubles. What’s frustrating is that even though I can help people through their debt issues through bankruptcy, not much can be done about the underlying issues that triggered the debt problems in the first place. Many clients come in to see me because they were never taught how to use basic personal finance tools. Sadly, this means that despite getting out of debt, the dysfunctions in their personal finances continue.

Aside from the unpleasant issues that bring the clients into our offices in the first place, because our legal system is adversarial, we must also deal with unpleasant people — all the time. It seems that many lawyers have one tool in their toolbox — a hammer, and as the saying goes — to treat every situation as if it’s a nail. Incivility runs rampant in our profession, and this constant exposure to hyper-aggressive, negative, untrustworthy behaviors can take a toll on us, and how we experience the world.

2. We have very little control, yet are expected to deliver the desired outcome

As a lawyer, there are so many things that are beyond our control. We have no control over the facts, or the law. We of course don’t have control over our opposing counsel, his or her client, nor over our own clients. We have no control over the witnesses, or the courts. Yet, we’re expected to deliver the desired outcome for our clients, and if we fail, we’re a “failure.”

This is a recipe ripe for crazy making — trying to control something we do not have control over.

3. Exposure to trauma

This doesn’t apply to every lawyer, but many lawyers are exposed to trauma. As I mentioned above, clients never come to us with happy news. But some client’s stories are very sad, very traumatic, and downright depressing.

I remember when I first started practicing law, I was assigned to the domestic violence court at the State Attorney’s Office. Constantly reading files on battered women (and sometimes men), seeing pictures of battered people, being immersed in this experience had a lasting impact. There are stories I’ll never be able to unhear, images that I’ll never be able to unsee.

Besides the regular exposure to trauma, what makes things worse is that there is a lack of acknowledgement that such trauma can have an impact on the attorney. It’s as if we’re supposed to be robots, able to carry out our duties as lawyers with robotic precision and never have any emotional reaction.

This is, of course, ridiculous. We’re humans, dealing with very difficult human issues, and if you have even an ounce of humanity in you, doing this work, it will have an impact.

There’s a lot of discussions about what changes loom ahead for the legal profession. Lawyers are worried about job security, what the future of the legal profession looks like, and concerns about being replaced by a robot lawyer.

We can not propel the legal profession forward in a positive way without addressing wellness. It’s time that we start a discussion around what a healthy legal workplace looks like. What services should be made available to help lawyers cope with the many reasons for burnout, depression, alcohol/substance abuse, stress, and anxiety? What preventative measures must be put into place so that we not only focus on addressing mental illnesses but overall health of our workplace? How do we stop accepting that misery and unhappiness must be part of our job description?

I believe this isn’t a problem that can be solved by one person. It’s a collective problem that each and every person in the profession must help to address.

P.S. You’re invited to our upcoming Shape the Law Unconference where we’ll tackle many of these issues. What should be done to increase the wellness in our profession? Please drop me an email and let me know hello@jeenacho.com or on Twitter @jeena_cho. 

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