Lawyers are near or at the top of the list of professions with the highest suicide rates. After cancer and heart disease, suicide is the third most common cause of death among lawyers. According to the 2021 ALM Mental Health & Substance Use Study, suicide impacts diverse lawyers at even higher rates, i.e., roughly 31% of African-American lawyers said they have contemplated suicide during their legal career, 23% of Hispanic and Latino attorneys, and 20% of Asian attorneys, who reported the same tendencies. Despite these realities, few lawyers are informed about depression and suicide prevention and even fewer feel comfortable talking about the issue or speaking to a colleague when they sense something might be wrong. Please join the IPL Attorney Wellness Committee for a Q & A Session with Loretta Oleksy, Deputy Director of the Indiana Judges & Lawyers Assistance Program, where we will look at some of the facts and myths about suicide, why signs may go undetected in the legal profession, understand how to approach a colleague, and consider issues of processing loss and grief following the loss of a colleague.
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