Most lawyers can attest that being an attorney is a stressful occupation due to the conflict and human drama that lawyers experience daily. In addition, many lawyers work long hours, which only compounds the stress and adverse health effects. Perhaps owing to this stress, some lawyers are more likely to suffer substance abuse and mental help problems. Due to all of these compounding factors, lawyers might have worse health outcomes than people who work in other professions.
Over the past few years, I personally knew four lawyers who died of heart attacks in their 50s. People suffer heart attacks at relatively young ages for many reasons. I was not particularly close to any of these lawyers, and it has been years since I worked with any of them closely. However, I could see that the stress of the legal profession was impacting at least a few of them, and I wonder if years of practicing law had an adverse health effect on them.
I also personally know many lawyers who seek mental health help, possibly due to the stress experienced in the legal profession. Let me be clear: I think it is great for lawyers (and anyone else) to see therapy and other methods for dealing with mental health issues. I am happy that many state bars have deemphasized mental health issues on bar applications since there should not be a stigma associated with people who suffer from depression, anxiety, or other similar issues and accordingly seek help.
However, it is extremely likely that being a lawyer contributes to mental health issues. Dealing with human drama and needing to square off against adversaries and other stakeholders to the legal profession can exacerbate depression. In addition, tight deadlines and the fear of messing up can add to a lawyer’s anxiety. Attorneys routinely need to make arguments that run counter to their deep-seated beliefs and engage in other conduct that can be difficult to bear. This can all have an adverse impact on the mental health of legal practitioners.
The legal industry is not healthy at baseline, even if practitioners do not have jobs in the more stressful branches of the profession. Being a lawyer is mostly a sedentary pursuit since attorneys usually sit behind desks and apply their trade behind computers. I like going to court as it requires walking and movement, but more and more court appearances and depositions have gone virtual after the pandemic, and these opportunities to get exercise throughout the workday have almost vanished.
The office environment in many legal workplaces is no picnic either. Lawyers are not always the best people to work with, and the many opportunities for conflict, office politics, and intrigue can also impact the mental well-being of practitioners. Many lawyers do not need to work from the office five days a week like in earlier years, but there are still stressful moments caused by working in a legal workplace that are not connected to the work lawyers perform for clients.
I am not a physician, and I have not conducted any research on the topic of health outcomes for lawyers. I have just anecdotally witnessed many lawyers suffer adverse health outcomes at relatively young ages, which may or may not be associated with their work. I’d love any feedback readers may have, especially if you too have seen lawyers suffer adverse health effects at ages or in quantities that seem unusual. Perhaps if there was an acknowledgement of the health issues that lawyers face it might be easier to propose solutions to this possible problem.
Jordan Rothman is a partner of The Rothman Law Firm, a full-service New York and New Jersey law firm. He is also the founder of Student Debt Diaries, a website discussing how he paid off his student loans. You can reach Jordan through email at jordan@rothman.law.
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