The Working Group to Advance Well-Being in the Legal Profession was formed in September 2017 at the request of Past-President Hilarie Bass and continued to operate under Immediate Past-President Bob Carlson’s leadership. The Working Group was created to examine and make recommendations regarding the current state of attorney mental health and substance use issues with an emphasis on helping legal employers support healthy work environments. Following the conclusion of the Working Group’s term in 2019, its initiatives and projects, including the Well-Being Pledge Campaign transitioned to the leadership of the ABA Commission on Lawyer Assistance Programs.
Working Group to Advance Well-Being in the Legal Profession
Well-Being Pledge Campaign
The ABA Well-Being Campaign was launched to improve the substance use and mental health landscape of the legal profession. The primary vehicle for the Campaign is a Pledge calling upon legal employers (including law firms, corporate entities, government agencies and legal aid organizations) to first: (a) recognize that substance use and mental health problems represent a significant challenge for the legal profession and acknowledge that more can and should be done to improve the health and well-being of lawyers; and, (b) pledge to support the Campaign and work to adopt and prioritize its seven-point framework for building a better future.
During the second stage of the Campaign, a Commitment Form will be circulated annually – asking participants to describe any steps taken toward the objectives set out in the framework during the previous year and recommit to the Pledge.
Contact Theresa Gronkiewicz at Theresa.Gronkiewicz@americanbar.org with any questions or to pledge your support.
For a more detailed description of the Campaign as well as a quote from President Bob Carlson in support of the initiative, see the official ABA Press Release.
Watch this Video Message from Immediate-Past ABA President Bob Carlson highlighting the ABA's efforts to improve lawyer well-being.
Pledge Members - 187 Signatories
American Bar Association Arnold & Porter 3M Akerman LLP Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP* Allen & Overy LLP All Elite Wrestling, LLC Alston & Bird American University Washington Arent Fox LLP Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission of the Supreme Court of Illinois Ave Maria School of Law Axiom Baker Botts LLP BakerHostetler Ballard Spahr LLP Barclays Barclay Damon LLP Barnes & Thornburg LLP Bass, Berry & Sims PLC Bilzin Sumberg Baena Price & Axelrod LLP Blank Rome LLP Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota Bold Events, LLC Bowman and Brooke LLP Bracewell LLP Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck LLP Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner LLP Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney PC Cahill Gordon & Reindel LLP Carlton Fields CBRE, Inc. Chapman and Cutler LLP Choate, Hall & Stewart LLP Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP Clifford Chance US LLP Clyde & Co LLP Compass Law IP Commonwealth of Massachusetts Office of the Attorney General Cooley LLP Corette Black Carlson & Mickelson P.C.* Cozen O'Connor Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP Crowell & Moring LLP Cummins Inc. Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP Day Pitney LLP Debevoise & Plimpton LLP Dechert LLP Dentons Dorsey & Whitney LLP Drost Kivlahan McMahon & O’Connor, LLP Duane Morris LLP* Dunner Law PLLC Dykema Eversheds Sutherland (US) LLP Farella Braun & Martel LLP Faegre Baker Daniels LLP Felhaber Larson Fenwick & West LLP Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner LLP Fish & Richardson P.C. FIU College of Law Foley Hoag LLP Foley & Lardner LLP Fordham University School of Law Fox Rothschild LLP Fredrikson & Byron, P.A. Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP Gonzaga University School of Law Goodwin Procter LLP Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani LLP Gould & Ratner Greene Espel PLLP Hanson Bridgett LLP Harter Secrest & Emery LLP Hausfeld Haynes and Boone, LLP Heiting & Irwin, APLC HEREIAM LAW Hogan Lovells Hoge Fenton Holland & Knight LLP Honigman* Howard University Hughes Hubbard & Reed LLP Husch Blackwell LLP Ice Miller LLP Jackson Lewis P.C. Jacksonville Jaguars, LLC Jenner & Block LLP Kasowitz Benson Torres LLP Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP
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Kelley Drye & Warren LLP K & L Gates LLP Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP Latham & Watkins LLP* Lawrence & Bundy LLC Linklaters LLP Lewis Thomason Locke Lord LLP Lowenstein Sandler LLP Loyola Law School - Loyola Marymount University Los Angeles Mayer Brown LLP McDermott Will & Emery LLP McLane Middleton McNees Wallace & Nurick LLC Miller & Chevalier Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo, P.C. The Mississippi Bar Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP* Morrison & Foerster LLP Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP National Organization of Bar Counsel (NOBC) Neal, Gerber & Eisenberg LLP Nexsen Pruet, LLC Nixon Peabody LLP* Northwestern Pritzker School of Law Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, O’Melveny & Myers LLP Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler LLP Paul Hastings LLP Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP Perkins Coie LLP* Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP Piper McCracken, PLLC Porter Hedges LLP Proskauer Rose LLP Quarles & Brady LLP Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, LLP Redgrave LLP Reed Smith, LLP* Robins Kaplan LLP Robinson & Cole LLP Rutgers Law School Santa Clara University Saul Ewing Arnstein & Lehr LLP Schiff Hardin LLP* Schulte Roth & Zabel LLP Selendy & Gay PLLC Seyfarth Shaw LLP* Shearman & Sterling LLP Sheppard Mullin Shook, Hardy & Bacon, L.L.P. Sidley Austin LLP S.J. Quinney College of Law Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP Snell & Wilmer LLP* Stinson LLP Stoel Rives LLP Stokes Lawrence, P.S. Stradley Ronon Stevens & Young LLP Southwestern Law School Squire Patton Boggs LLP Suffolk University Law School UIC John Marshall Law School The Bar Plan Mutual Insurance Co. The University of Tulsa College of Law Thompson & Knight LLP Troutman Pepper Hamilton Sanders UC Irvine School of Law University of Cincinnati University of Connecticut University of Idaho University of Maine University of Miami University of Michigan The University of Minnesota Law School University of Mississippi University of San Diego University of St. Thomas University of Toledo USC Gould School of Law U.S. Bank Vanderbilt Law School VMware, Inc Waller Washington Council of Lawyers Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP West Virginia University College of Law Wiley Rein LLP* Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP |
*Indicates initial signer.
Click here to download a PDf of the infographic.
Well-Being Template for Legal Employers
The Policy Committee of the ABA Commission on Lawyer Assistance Programs (CoLAP) and the ABA Working Group to Advance Well-Being in the Legal Profession developed a Well-Being Template for Legal Employers to provide suggested guidelines to legal employers for responding to an employee who is experiencing impairment due to a substance use disorder, mental health disorder or cognitive impairment. The template is intended to serve as a tool that can be modified as needed to suit the individual employer. Each employer should tailor this document to meet the specific needs of its workplace, taking into consideration size, resources and practice setting, as well as consult with labor and employment counsel.
Access the template here.
Well-Being Toolkit for Lawyers and Legal Employers
The National Task Force on Lawyer Well-Being’s 2017 report shined a spotlight on evidence that too many lawyers face mental health and substance use disorders or otherwise aren’t thriving. Wanting to support the effort to catalyze positive change, American Bar Association President Hilarie Bass formed a Presidential Working Group to Advance Well-Being in the Legal Profession in September 2017. Its focus is on helping legal employers support healthy work environments, which are critical for lawyer wellness. Research shows that if workplace cultures support well-being, lawyers will be better able to make good choices that allow them to thrive and be their best for clients, colleagues, and work organizations.
Many legal employers are ready to become positive change agents but have been unsure where to start. The new Well-Being Toolkit for Lawyers and Legal Employers is designed to help. It offers tools and practical guidance for legal employers who want to join the lawyer well-being movement by launching organizational initiatives. The Toolkit, created by Presidential Working Group member Anne Brafford (a lawyer and organizational science researcher) can be viewed as a design prototype. It is meant to be a living document that will continue to develop and improve—an effort in which you are encouraged to participate. You can do so by trying out the Toolkit and offering feedback on what’s helpful, what can be improved, and what other resources are available. The Toolkit is offered as another step on the path to lawyer well-being—to help lawyers be their best as they carry out their critical roles contributing to the vitality of our government, business sector, community safety, and individual lives.
Also available is the Well-Being Toolkit Nutshell: 80 Tips For Lawyer Thriving, summarizing 80 of the Toolkit’s key items to help get you started on a lawyer well-being initiative.
Note for Use: The Toolkit is filled with electronic hyperlinks to websites and online resources that appear in blue underlined type. As a result, it is intended primarily for online viewing. If you decide to print the document in hard copy, select “fit to page” in your print dialogue box to ensure proper printing.
Resolution 105
ABA House of Delegates Adopts Lawyer Well-Being Resolution at Midyear Meeting
Resolution 105 – primarily sponsored by the Working Group to Advance Well-Being in the Legal Profession – was adopted by the ABA House of Delegates at the Midyear Meeting in Vancouver. Resolution 105 supports the goal of reducing mental health and substance use disorders and improving the well-being of lawyers, judges and law students, and urges stakeholders within the legal profession to consider the recommendations set out in The Path to Lawyer Well-Being: Practical Recommendations for Positive Change from the National Task Force on Lawyer Well-Being.
Resolution 105 was co-sponsored by the ABA Commission on Lawyer Assistance Programs, the ABA Standing Committee on Professionalism and the National Organization of Bar Counsel.
National Workshop
National Workshop on the Advancement of Attorney Well-Being in the Law Firm Setting with Special Guest, ABA President Hilarie Bass
Spring 2018 National Legal Malpractice Conference | April 25, 2018
The ABA Working Group to Advance Well-Being in the Legal Profession is focusing on the importance of well-being in the legal profession, with an emphasis on helping legal employers support healthy work environments.
To achieve this goal, one of the first steps is to formulate a national model policy on lawyer well-being for use in law firms. This interactive workshop was intended to create practical and workable law firm policies to reinforce lawyer well-being as a core component of the ethical obligations of competence and diligence as well as professionalism. Using a collaborative process, firm leaders, risk management providers, and subject matter experts, including members of lawyer assistance programs, met to generate ideas, innovations, and tools to develop this national model. Participants also learned ways to foster healthy lifestyles within firms as well as how to address addiction and mental health issues to help lawyers as part of a firm’s risk management strategy.
Presented by the ABA Working Group to Advance Well-Being in the Legal Profession, Standing Committee on Lawyers Professional Liability, Center for Professional Responsibility and the Commission on Lawyer Assistance Programs.
More Information
Share Your Thoughts
What other projects should the Working Group be pursuing? Share your thoughts and ideas by emailing Teresa Schmid.
Related Articles
- It’s time to promote our health: ABA mobilizes on multiple fronts to address well-being in the legal profession (ABA Journal, December 2018)
- ABA launches pledge campaign to improve mental health and well-being of lawyers (ABA News, September 10, 2018)
- ABA’s Focus on Lawyers’ Well-Being Is ‘Right Thing to Do’ (Bloomberg BNA, May 7, 2018)
- ABA 'Furiously Working' to Craft Proposal on Lawyers' Mental Health (The National Law Journal, May 21, 2018)
- ABA works to address attorney substance use and mental health disorders (ABA Journal, December 2017)
- For the New Year, ABA Aims to Help Firms with Well-Being Policies (Daily Business Review, December 21, 2017)