Survey of Law Student Well-Being

In the spring of 2014, fifteen law schools around the country participated in the Survey of Law Student Well-Being (SLSWB), designed to examine alcohol, drug and mental health issues, as well as help-seeking behaviors, among law students.  

The study was administered with a grant from the ABA Enterprise Fund, sponsored by the ABA Commission on Lawyer Assistance Programs, Law Student Division, Solo, Small Firm and General Practice Division, Young Lawyers Division and Commission on Disability Rights, as well as with support from the Dave Nee Foundation.   

The Findings

The December 2015 issue of the Bar Examiner included a preview of the results, and a more comprehensive report of the findings was published in the Autumn 2016 issue of the Journal of Legal Education.

Jerome M. Organ, David B. Jaffe & Katherine M. Bender, Ph.D., Helping Law Students Get the Help They Need: An Analysis of Data Regarding Law Students’ Reluctance to Seek Help and Policy Recommendations for a Variety of Stakeholders, The Bar Examiner, December 2015

Jerome M. Organ, David B. Jaffe & Katherine M. Bender, Ph.D., Suffering in Silence: The Survey of Law Student Well-Being and the Reluctance of Law Students to Seek Help for Substance Use and Mental Health Concerns, 66 J. Legal Educ., Autumn 2016, at 1, 116–56

Click the image below for an infographic of just some of the findings.