Mental Health

How will you celebrate Well-Being Week in Law?

The first week of May is an opportunity for a highly stressed profession to take a step back and consider some self-care by celebrating the Well-Being Week in Law.

May 7, 2025 4:30 PM CDT

How to negotiate mental health challenges in the law

“Even after having lived with major mental health issues, I can’t shake my outmoded ways of thinking about them and the people they afflict—myself included. We’re all judging people with mental health issues because we’ve been trained to.”

Mar 27, 2025 9:13 AM CDT

Severed body parts, conspiracy theories and Elvis Presley impersonators featured in Netflix documentary

The Kings of Tupelo: A Southern Crime Saga explores an assassination attempt on former President Barack Obama and how it all tied back to an alleged discovery by an Elvis Presley “tribute artist” of severed body parts in a hospital refrigerator.

Mar 24, 2025 8:57 AM CDT

When policies afford legal professionals discretion, they should choose to be trauma informed

Lawyers are big on adhering to statutes and caselaw precedents, contractual provisions and the clauses of internal governance documents, employee handbook policies, and terms from codes of conduct. But what happens when there is ambiguity?

Mar 17, 2025 3:01 PM CDT

The Art of the Pause: The secrets of yin yoga in legal practice

"When you lose touch with inner stillness, you lose touch with yourself. When you lose touch with yourself, you lose yourself in the world." —Eckhart Tolle

Feb 19, 2025 2:56 PM CST

Federal judge blocks Trump order on health care for transgender youth

A federal judge on Thursday blocked executive orders signed by President Donald Trump that target transgender people and their health care, giving temporary relief to LGBTQ+ individuals and their families, who braced for legal battles to continue.

Feb 14, 2025 9:00 AM CST

Lights, Camera, Contracts: The harsh legal reality of reality television

The main legal need surrounding reality show participants concerns their employment status—or lack thereof. Reality show participants are treated as independent contractors, which technically lets networks and productions evade many of the labor laws that protect employees.

Feb 10, 2025 8:59 AM CST

Should lawyers get billable-hour credit for time off? It should be encouraged, ABA House says, but not before debate

What can make the ABA House of Delegates have an hourlong lively debate? Apparently, it’s a resolution aimed at helping ease lawyer stress and achieve a better work-life balance.

Feb 3, 2025 6:58 PM CST

BigLaw firm took several pages from ‘Retaliating Employer’s Handbook,’ suit alleges

Updated: A counsel at Davis Wright Tremaine in Seattle has filed a retaliation lawsuit against the law firm and several partners, including one defendant who moved into the plaintiff’s Seattle apartment building—allegedly on the firm’s dime.

Jan 23, 2025 11:11 AM CST

Hold the Phone: K-12 school electronic device policies must be carefully considered, lawyers say

As more school districts tighten up student cellphone policies on campus, three reasons are often cited for the change. Lawyers, however, caution that the policies should not be as simple as prohibiting phones on campus.

Jan 14, 2025 11:02 AM CST

Law grads with past substance-use disorders suffered disability bias in quest for license, DOJ says

Would-be Tennessee lawyers encountered unlawful disability discrimination when they were required to submit to “burdensome examinations” and conditions triggered by their past diagnosis or treatment for a substance-use disorder or a mental health disorder, the U.S. Department of Justice has concluded.

Jan 6, 2025 3:15 PM CST

Top 10 Your Voice columns of 2024

One of the ABA Journal’s most precious assets is our access to engaged legal professionals with a knack for writing and a point of view to share. Since 2018, we have featured their words in our Your Voice section. Here are the top 10 of 2024.

Dec 24, 2024 9:00 AM CST

Lawyers spar in Supreme Court over constitutional rights in transgender health care case

The lengthy arguments this week in United States v. Skrmetti—a major case about whether a Tennessee law barring certain medical treatments for transgender minors violates the 14th Amendment—were marked by past positions, anticipation of future battles, a historical first and one justice’s curious silence.

Dec 5, 2024 2:15 PM CST

Lawyer mailed feces to federal judges, GOP politicians, ethics complaint says; he blamed his ‘rage’ on racism

An Ohio lawyer on inactive status is accused of violating disciplinary rules by mailing human feces to federal judges and politicians along with messages accusing them of racism and kowtowing to President-elect Donald Trump.

Nov 27, 2024 11:09 AM CST

Under Pressure: Understanding alcohol addiction in the legal profession

It’s no secret that lawyers have a high rate of problem drinking. According to data from the ABA, “as many as one in five lawyers is a problem drinker—twice the national rate.” These drinkers are able to keep their jobs because they’re considered to be either gray area drinkers or functional alcoholics. The former display early signs of an alcohol use disorder, while the latter appear to be somewhat in control of their drinking.

Nov 25, 2024 8:53 AM CST