LIFESTYLE / WELLNESS
Mental Health and the Practice of Law
Eric C . Lang The Lang Legal Group elang @ langlegal . com
Mental illness is a significant problem in our profession . 1 We have higher rates of mental disorders than the population as a whole . Suicide is the third leading cause of death among lawyers . Our suicide
rate far outpaces that of the population . Dean Prosser explained the root of this phenomena best :
Your lawyer in practice spends a considerable part of his life in doing distasteful things for disagreeable people who must be satisfied against an impossible time limit in which there are hourly interruptions from other disagreeable people who want to derail the train ; and for his blood , sweat , and tears , he receives in the end a few unkind words to the effect that it might have been done better , and a protest at the size of the fee . 2
The client – not the lawyer – bears the burden of the lawyer ’ s mental illness . Discipline opinions dem-
1 See , e . g ., Out of the Darkness : Overcoming Depression Among Lawyers , 32 GPSOLO No . 2 , March / April 2015 . 2 Prosser , Lighthouse No Good , 1 Jl . Leg . Educ . 260 ( 1948 ). onstrate that clients suffer botched representation or trust fund violations when we are mentally unstable . 3 It may seem that the recent uptick 4 of concern about lawyers , mental health , and suicide arises
“ Suicide is the third leading cause of death among lawyers .”
out of a desire to “ take care of our own ,” but attorney mental health is an ethical issue relating to competent representation and integrity of the profession .
We try to address these issues . When we apply for Bar admission , we are asked whether we currently have a mental condition that would affect our ability to practice ; whether we have had treatment for that condition ; and whether we have
3 See In re Lang , 292 Ga . 894 , 741 S . E . 2d 152 ( 2013 ) ( one year suspension of attorney with bipolar disor der for misuse of trust funds ); In re Lang , 295 Ga . 220 , 759 S . E . 2d 47 ( 2014 ) ( one-year suspension of same attorney for failing to communicate with client ). See also In re Lang , 297 Ga . 156 , 773 S . E . 2d 253 ( 2015 ) ( reinstating same attorney ). The mental health issues involved in those opinions form part of the backdrop to this article . 4 https :// www . gabar . org / committeesprogramssections / programs / lap / suicide _ awareness . cfm ( accessed on February 17 , 2017 ). ever raised a mental condition as a defense . 5 After admission , we are obligated to provide “ competent representation , 6 ” and if “ want of a sound mind … impair [ s ] … competency ,” we lose the privilege topractice . 7 If we know a mentally incompetent attorney , we “ should inform the appropriate professional authority . 8 ”
Applying these principles is challenging because mental health issues do not necessarily manifest themselves physically . There is no litmus test confirming that a lawyer has a mental disorder . We rarely , if ever , break down in public ( e . g . Al Pacino ’ s character in “. . . And Justice For All ” screaming “ You ’ re out of order ! The whole trial is out of order !”). We more often encounter My Cousin Vinny , leaving us to wonder whether the unprepared attorney in the strange clothing who keeps lying to the judge but wins in the end is brilliant , unstable , or both .
A plethora of checklists describe symptoms of mental illness in generic clinical terms . 9 Such lists –
5 Character and Fitness Questionnaire , Office of Bar Admissions , Supreme Court of Georgia , Questions 25 , 26 , and 27 . 6 Georgia Rules of Professional Conduct (“ Rules ”) 1.1 . 7 Rule 4-104 ( a ). 8 Rule 8.3 ( a ). 9 E . g ., “[ f ] eelings of hopelessness
10 March 2017