Uncommon Counsel is the Foundation’s unique and innovative program that fights depression and prevents suicide among law students. Uncommon Counsel educates law students about depression, its prevalence in the legal profession, and the availability and effectiveness of treatment. We believe that the program will, quite literally, save law students’ lives.
Our charter law school partner for Uncommon Counsel is Fordham University School of Law, with whom we are working closely to ensure that our efforts reach every law student at the school. We hope to partner with law schools throughout New York City and eventually, the country, to create unique programming that specifically addresses the needs of each school. Some programming possibilities include:
• Conducting seminars and panel discussions with law students to raise awareness about the symptoms and stigmas associated with depression and to advocate for effective treatment.
• Implementing an online diagnostic tool that allows law students to determine whether they might be suffering from depression and educates them on the specific resources available to them on their campuses and in their communities.
• Drafting brochures, pamphlets, and other resources on depression and suicide that will be distributed throughout the school
If you are affiliated with a law school and are interested in bringing Uncommon Counsel to your school, please contact us at [email protected].
If you are a law student suffering from depression or know a law student suffering from depression, you may call 1-800-255-0569, the New York Bar Association Lawyer Assistance Program’s Helpline
If you are in crisis, please call 1-800-273-TALK (8255) or 911.
- Depression among law students is 8-9% prior to matriculation, 27% after one semester, 34% after 2 semesters, and 40% after 3 years.[i]
- Stress among law students is 96%, compared to 70% in med students and 43% in graduate students[ii]
- Entering law school, law students have a psychological profile similar to that of the general public. After law school, 20-40% have a psychological dysfunction.[iii]
- Psychological distress, dissatisfaction and substance abuse that begin in law school follow many graduates into practice[iv]
- Only half of lawyers are very satisfied or satisfied with their work.[v]
- Chronic stress can trigger the onset of clinical depression[vi]
- Lawyers are the most frequently depressed occupational group in the US[vii]
- Lawyers are 3.6 times more likely to suffer from depression than non-lawyers[viii]
- Depression and anxiety is cited by 26% of all lawyers who seek counseling[ix]
- 15% of people with clinical depression commit suicide[x]
- Lawyers rank 5th in incidence of suicide by occupation[xi]
- 19% of lawyers suffer from statistically significant elevated levels of depression, according to a survey conducted on lawyers in Washington[xii]
- Over 25% of North Carolina lawyers experience physical symptoms of extreme anxiety at least three times per month during the year[xiii]
- 37% of North Carolina lawyers suffer from depression[xiv]
- 11% of North Carolina lawyers suffer from suicide ideation[xv]
[i] G. Andrew H. Benjamin et al., The Role of Legal Education in Producing Psychological Distress among Law Students and Lawyers, 1986 Am. B. Found. Res. J. 225 (1986).
[ii] Helmers K.F. et al., Stress and Depressed Mood in medical students, law students, and graduate students at McGill University, Acad Med. 1997 Aug; 72(8):708-14.
[iii] Deborah Rhode, Legal Education: Professional Interests and Public Values, 34 Ind. L. Rev. 1 (2000).
[iv] Gerald Hess, Hearts and Heads: Creating an Effective Teaching and Learning Environment in Law School, 52 J. of Legal Educ.75 (2002).
[v] Symposium on Lawyer Happiness, 58 Syracuse L. Rev. 217 (2008).
[vi] Stress System Malfunction Could Lead to Serious, Life Threatening Disease, NIH Backgrounder (Sept. 9, 2002) http://www.nih.gov/news/pr/sep2002/nichd-09.htm; see also Todd C. Scott, Stress for Success?, GPSolo Magazine (Oct./Nov. 2007) http://www.abanet.org/genpractice/magazine/2007/oct-nov/stressforsuccess.html.
[vii] W. W. Eaton et al., Occupations and the Prevalence of Major Depressive Disorder, 32 J. of Occupational Med. 1079 (1990).
[viii] Id.
[ix] Sacha Pfeiffer, Law and a Disorder, Boston Globe (June 27, 2007), http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2007/06/27/law_and_a_disorder/.
[x] Don P. Jones & Michael Crowley, “I wish I could have called you before”, http://www.abanet.org/barserv/barleader/22-6wish.html.
[xi] ABA Mental Health Toolkit, http://www.abanet.org/lsd/mentalhealth/toolkit.pdf.
[xii] G. Andrew H. Benjamin et al., The Prevalence of Depression, Alcohol Abuse and Cocaine Abuse Among United States Lawyers. 13 Int’l J. of L. & Psych. 233-246. (1990).
[xiii] NC Bar Association, Final Report of the Quality of Life Survey of NC Attorneys (2003).
[xiv] Id.
[xv] Id.