BOG5_Results

National survey findings and media attention have long documented the health concerns attendant to the legal profession, including stress, anxiety, depression, and problem substance use. It is evident that lawyer well-being issues can no longer be ignored.¹ In 2016, a National Task Force on Lawyer Well-Being (Task Force) was formed as a collaborative effort by the ABA Commission on Lawyer Assistance Programs and a broad coalition of other national legal organizations. The Task Force Report noted several concerning trends within the legal profession and significant well-being challenges in all major sections of the legal profession in the United States.²

The 2017 Task Force Report spurred several reforms by the Oregon State Bar (OSB or Bar) and the Oregon Supreme Court (Court). The Bar and the Court, in collaboration with the Oregon Attorney Assistance Program (OAAP), adopted a continuing legal education requirement on mental health and substance use, and essential eligibility requirements for admission, and revised bar application questions about mental health history. The Task Force Report also inspired Oregon’s January 2019 Wellness Summit (2019 Summit), a collaboration by the OSB with the OAAP. Leaders in the profession gathered at the 2019 Summit to discuss well-being issues, and then provided the Board of Governors (BOG) with recommendations for Bar departments and volunteer groups. The recommendations noted that volunteer and stakeholder groups were an integral element of the future of well-being.

In 2021, the Bar’s House of Delegates (HOD) built off the 2019 Summit and approved Delegate Resolution No. 5, Conference of Well-Being Stakeholders. Delegate Resolution No. 5 directed the Bar to convene a Conference of Well-Being Stakeholders (the Conference). In June 2022, this Conference convened with several leaders from stakeholder groups who identified challenges to well-being.

These challenges were the subject of the discussion meetings of four designated Workgroups: (1) Well-Being in the Workplace and Evolving Legal Culture/Law Practice Management; (2) Regulatory and Disciplinary Practices, and Structural Impediments to Well-Being; (3) Reducing Vicarious Trauma and Stigma in the Legal Profession; and (4) Lawyer Education and Law School Well-Being. Workgroups were comprised of members of the bar from solo practitioners to members of mid-size and large firms; employees of nonprofits; government; and employees of the OAAP, PLF, and OSB.

Throughout the Conference and the continued meetings thereafter, four recurring threads permeated the Workgroup discussions. The WB Report delves into the discussion within each workgroup, along with the common issues that each workgroup discussed.

1. A knowledge gap exists among the public, members, bench, and law schools, specifically as to what well-being is; why well-being is important; and how do we achieve well-being in the legal profession.
2. Legal culture and business practices are entrenched in historic traditions that are sometimes at odds with well-being practices.
3. Application and disciplinary processes are stressful and stigmatizing to lawyers as well as confusing and arduous for the public.
4. Cultural changes are necessary to foster well-being and longevity in the profession.

Oregon has long been a national leader in recognizing the importance of well-being in the legal profession. The Oregon Attorney Assistance Program (OAAP) has been a well-being resource since 1982, providing counseling, assisting, educating, and advocating for lawyers, judges, and law students. Additionally, the OSB Quality of Life Committee demonstrates the Bar’s concern and commitment to the health and well-being of the legal community. Its mission is to encourage and support a culture that recognizes and promotes quality of life objectives as important to personal and professional development.

With all we have done in Oregon, we can and must do more. The WB Report provides a summary of the types of issues that must be addressed, and ideas for stakeholders to consider establishing a sustainable culture-shift that recognizes and values lawyer well-being as critical to protection of the public, the provision of high-quality legal services, and the advancement of a fair, inclusive, equitable, and accessible justice system.

The WB Report provides initial feedback from stakeholders on their experiences of the well-being issues within the legal profession in Oregon. There is more work to be done by all stakeholders to advance well-being in the legal profession.

The BOG offers its gratitude and appreciation to the HOD and its members for prioritizing well-being (individually and as a body) and in passing 2021 Delegate Resolution 5, which established the Conference of Stakeholders and led to the WB Report. The BOG stands with the HOD in its continuing commitment to prioritize well-being among legal professionals and asks that the HOD pass this resolution and its subparts.

¹ Bree Buchanan & James C. Coyle, National Task Force on Lawyer Well-Being: Creating a Movement to Improve Well-Being in the Profession, Am. B. Ass’n (Aug. 14, 2017),
https://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/images/abanews/ThePathToLawyerWellBeingReportFINAL.pdf (hereafter, “Task Force Report”).

² Task Force Report at 10-11.