President’s Perspective

Prioritizing Well-Being in Your Practice

I wrote in this column in February that one of the days in my career that stands out most prominently was the day in 1989 that I was first sworn in as a lawyer. I noted, for me, that feeling of pride and gratitude never quite gets old. Even on those days when lawyering is a slog, I don’t think I’ve ever once regretted being a lawyer. Over the course of the year, I have frequently referred to my affection for the practice and for lawyers. Recently, a good friend gifted me a T-shirt that says, “I love lawyers!”

All of that said, each of us (whether we always admit it to ourselves or not) have days when the pressures of practicing law — serving our clients while also taking care of our families and serving our communities — takes a toll. Learning how to take care of ourselves and deal with those times is a vital part of our professional and personal development.

Juxtaposed against my memory of being sworn into the bar, I recall a daunting discussion when I was a first-year summer clerk. Some lawyers in that firm who had gone to law school together were discussing a very successful classmate who was scheduled for two trials, back-to-back. According to their story, he finished the first trial, but instead of showing up for the second, he simply got in his car and drove away. By the time he was found — fortunately alive, if not well — his law license and his livelihood were in jeopardy.

May is Mental Health Awareness Month, and since 2020, the first week of May has been designated Well-Being in Law Week. Over the years, we’ve sharpened our focus on wellness in the profession, and we’ve gotten better at identifying peers who are struggling and helping them find support. Hopefully, we’ve also improved at self-identifying when we need help. The bar, including our North Carolina Bar Association, North Carolina State Bar, and the American Bar Association, have increased resources available to help lawyers in need.

At the start of the year, I had several priorities in mind: professionalism, civility, lawyer wellness and “grace.” I also had a desire to support lawyers who traditionally have been excluded from the full benefits of the profession. These ideas intersect and overlap in meaningful ways. But wellness is central to all of them. Stress and anxiety affect all of us. Lawyers who are or feel themselves to be outside of the traditional mainstream of the profession, because of gender, race, orientation, first-gen lawyer status, family obligations or otherwise, may be at greater risk. Dedication to civility, wellness and grace is important to all of us as we navigate the ups and downs of practice.

This is not the first time the NCBA has focused on wellness. Past President Judge Jackie Grant made wellness the centerpiece of the association’s annual meeting in 2019. In an interview leading up to that meeting, Judge Grant observed that many lawyer wellness programs focus on what she called the “backend” of stress — the point at which lawyers have “succumbed to it and are dealing with mental health or substance abuse issues.”[1] She emphasized the “front end”: teaching tools to manage stress and anxiety so that they don’t get out of control and impact legal professionals, our practices, our clients and our families.

What are some of these tools and tips?

DRI published a helpful short article on handling stress and anxiety, and avoiding burnout in 2022.[2] DRI’s ten tips included:

  • Incorporating gratitude into your morning routine.
  • Stepping away from your desk to get fresh air.
  • Joining a volunteer organization.
  • Reading a book.
  • Updating your calendar.
  • Spending time with friends and family.
  • Exercise.
  • Avoiding technology before bedtime.
  • Separating work and recreation spaces.
  • Eating a balanced diet.

I’m particularly struck by the first tip. Expressing gratitude is a powerful tool. It’s not just gratitude for what has been done for us, but a gratitude to self for what we have accomplished, even when things aren’t perfect: obtaining a law degree (the kind of thing the parents and grandparents of many lawyers had only dreamed about), managing a practice, serving clients. And why not update your calendar not just to manage your time, but with a focus on what you have accomplished in a day or week.

The State Bar of Wisconsin published a 2017 article on ways stakeholder organizations in the profession can support legal professionals.[3] Among its suggestions were modeling a commitment to well-being and de-stigmatizing and encouraging help-seeking. Also among its suggestions was “fostering collegiality and respectful engagement throughout the profession.” The article explained:

Chronic incivility depletes the legal profession’s one true resource — its people. Collegiality, on the other hand, fosters psychological safety — the feeling that the work environment is trusting, respectful and a safe place to take risks. When lawyers don’t feel psychologically safe, they are less likely to seek or accept feedback, experiment, discuss errors and speak up about potential or actual problems.

The Wisconsin article relies principally on the 2017 report of the National Task Force on Lawyer Well-Being, a lengthy report, but worth reading.[4] The report ends with a call-to-action tying lawyer well-being to our professional and ethical obligations as lawyers:

As a profession, we have the capacity to face these challenges and create a better future for our lawyers that is sustainable. We can do so — not in spite of — but in pursuit of the highest professional standards, business practices, and ethical ideals.

At the beginning of this column, I described the story of the lawyer who threw his hands up between trials and succumbed to the stress and anxiety of his demanding practice. I balance that story with the mentors in my career who have said things to me, and others, like, “Don’t you have a young family? What are you doing here on the weekend? Go home; the work will be here Monday!” The tenor of much of our professional lives lies somewhere between these anecdotes. But recognizing the importance of wellness and developing strategies to promote and protect it are among the highest priorities for all of as legal professionals.

For lawyers seeking help, either at the backend or, better yet, at the front end (as Judge Grant described it) of the wellness curve, resources are available. For our members, two to keep in mind are BarCARES and the North Carolina Lawyer Assistance Program (“NCLAP”). BarCARES is a cost-free, confidential, short-term program for members of participating district bars, voluntary bar associations, and law schools. NCLAP is a free and confidential program offered by the North Carolina State Bar. BarCARES and NCLAP work closely together; either can get you to the right place for information and help.

Rob Harrington serves as president of the North Carolina Bar Association and the North Carolina Bar Foundation.

[1] https://www.ncbar.gov/publications-resources/pathways-to-wellbeing/lawyer-wellness-takes-center-stage-at-north-carolina-bar-association-annual-meeting/.

[2] https://www.dri.org/publications/blog/wellness-tips.

[3] https://www.wisbar.org/newspublications/wisconsinlawyer/pages/article.aspx?Volume=90&Issue=10&ArticleID=25977.

[4] https://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/administrative/professional_responsibility/lawyer_well_being_report_final.pdf.