Two and a half years ago George Bullwinkel decided to drop out ofhis law firm and set up shop with four other attorneys. All agreedto submit to a full psychological work-up first.
"We just wanted to be sure each person selected for this groupwas capable of functioning as a full member of the team and did notcarry any hidden baggage," Bullwinkel explains.
Conducting the interviews was psychologist Paul Bomrad, a lawfirm and business management consultant who has worked with a numberof Chicago offices.
"Law firms are cutting back these days and are morediscriminating on who they take on board and elevate to partnershipstatus. And obviously, stress is involved," says Bomrad.
Despite a popular image of stability and authority - perpetuatedby such TV shows as "L.A. Law" and "Law and Order" - lawyers have toacknowledge that they, like their clients, are vulnerable toemotional difficulties.
The figures tell the story.
The American Bar Association estimates that 20 percent of thenation's 700,000 lawyers are chemically dependent.
Recent studies by Johns Hopkins University and the WashingtonState Bar Association showed lawyers were three times more likely tobe depressed than the general population.
Bar officials say Illinois attorneys fit the national profileand are calling on professionals for psychological support.
Bomrad is just one consultant in a burgeoning new field helpinglawyers and firms deal with psychodynamic issues.
The problems can extend beyond an individual attorney. If alawyer is a substance abuser or depressed or worried about personalconflicts, he or she may not give full attention to a practice.
Stress-related problems "took a huge amount of emotional energyand distracted the firm from what it should be doing," saidadministrator Peter Fritts of the firm Wildman, Harrold, Allen &Dixon which now provides its 185 lawyers with referrals to counselorsin an Employee Assistance Program.
Mary Robinson, administrator of the Illinois AttorneyRegistration and Disciplinary Commission, which last yearinvestigated 5,969 complaints against attorneys, says an attorney'semotional well being "can affect consumers, and they don't have anyway of checking things out themselves."
Incompetence and neglect are the two biggest complaints receivedby the commission. Robinson said investigators often find a lawyeris not just neglecting a case "but paralyzed. It is not alwayspossible to identify the precise cause, but depression and stressare contributing factors." Joel Henning is an attorney andmanagement consultant who counsels law firms on how to handle issuessuch as attorney burnout, partners selection, compensation andpreventing a partner from bolting with clients.
"I often find myself playing a role that is not unlike marriagecounseling," says Henning. "The same pathology arises out ofcircumstances in a law practice."
One firm has become so dependent on Henning's services, it willnot hold an executive committee meeting without him present.
When people who are together every day won't or can't talk toeach other about important things, Henning says, tension builds.
"Very often this leads to burnout and a decline in productivity.Consequently, it means that as a result of psychological problems,the law firm is often exposed to malpractice risk," Henning says.
Among strategies developed in the last few years by the legalprofession are: The nonprofit Lawyers Assistance Program has a crisis Hotline(800-LAP-1233), and offers confidential referrals to attorneysdependent on alcohol or drugs. An Illinois State Bar Association subcommittee is studying theextent of depression and suicide among lawyers and the need for aconfidential assistance program. Several firms have hired psychological consultants for advice oninterpersonal relations or management strategy. At least a half-dozen Chicago law firms offer confidential referralsto mental health professionals through Employee Assistance Programs. The Northwest Suburban Bar Association supports a lawyer self-helpgroup that discusses how to handle psychological pressures. Lawyersfor Lawyers meets monthly in Arlington Heights to talk about mutualfrustrations.
"The whole drive toward objectivity tends to isolate an attorneyand bleed into his personal life if it is not controlled," saysBenjamin Sells, a lawyer who left the Jenner & Block law firm lastyear to become a psychotherapist. His patients are mostly lawyers.
"The mind-set of the way you are trained to think as a lawyercan be distancing and detaching," says Sells.
The state bar panel is studying counseling programs offered byother states to find ways to help lawyers deal with emotionaldifficulties.
"The potential for depression, suicide and other severeemotional problems in the legal profession should be addressed by theorganized bar," says Chairman Robert Kane. "Members should beprovided avenues to seek help in a confidential, compassionatemanner."
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