Over the past 10 years, conversations about health and well-being in the legal profession have become increasingly common, often focusing on the disproportionately high rates of depression, anxiety, substance use, and suicide across the lifespan of those serving in the legal profession — law students, lawyers, and judicial officers. New research is released on a regular basis showing that each cohort is continuing to suffer, often in silence.
Those are the facts, but they aren’t the whole story. The reality is that we all have a role in how the story unfolds. In fact, The Path to Lawyer Well-Being: Practical Recommendations for Positive Change, published in 2017 by the National Task Force for Lawyer Well-Being (now the Institute for Well-Being in Law), created an outline for us to fill in. The report identified six dimensions of well-being and steps that individuals and organizations can take to promote and support well-being across those dimensions. We’ve added a seventh dimension — environmental — to the model we use at Thought Kitchen.
This session will begin with an overview of the research about lawyer, law student, and judicial officer well-being, and the dimensions of well-being as set forth in The Path to Lawyer Well-Being. Then, there will be facilitated discussion about each dimension of well-being, including the following inquiries:
- What does each dimension of well-being look like for you?
- What gets in the way?
- What does support look like?
Participants will leave with an increased ability to:
- Acknowledge the serious challenges to the well-being of lawyers, law students, and judicial officers and recognize the impact those challenges have on professional conduct
- Identify the dimensions of well-being and specific practices to support each dimension
- Consider the ways in which each of us can impact the culture of the legal profession to support and promote well-being
Agenda:
- Overview of Research and the Dimensions of Well-Being
- Research on lawyer and judicial officer well-being
- Defining well-being
- Introduction to the seven dimensions of well-being
- Facilitated Discussion of Each of the Dimensions of Well-Being
- Emotional
- Social
- Physical
- Environmental
- Spiritual
- Intellectual
- Occupational
- Building your well-being menu
- What does each dimension of well-being look like for you?
- What gets in the way?
- What does support look like?
- Questions & Answers (as time permits)
Duration of this webinar:
60 minutes
Originally broadcast:
June 04, 2025 9:00 AM PT
