Colorado Task Force on Lawyer Well-Being

The Colorado Task Force on Lawyer Well-Being will use its members’ leadership and commitment to service to develop concrete actions to help judges, lawyers, and law students thrive in the profession. The Task Force first convened September 12, 2018, and met regularly through February 2020, with additional meetings in the summer of 2020. The Task Force’s final report can be viewed here.

Well-Being Recognition Program for Legal Employers Pilot Project

In association with the work of the Colorado Task Force on Lawyer Well-Being, the Colorado Attorney Mentoring Program convened a pilot project in July 2020 to evaluate creation of a recognition program for legal employers who implement well-being strategies. The pilot project concluded in May 2021. To read a press release concerning the work of the Well-Being Recognition Pilot Project, click here. To read the Pilot Project’s final report, click here.

Quick Links

• Why Well-Being Matters
• Occupational Risks
• What is Lawyer “Well-Being”?
• Quick Tips for Greater Well-Being
• Lawyer Well-Being is Good for Business!
• Colorado Resources for Lawyer Well-Being
• Materials and Minutes

Why Well-being Matters

Lawyer “well-being” matters! It can impact:

• A practice’s bottom line
  • Lost productivity
  • Employee turnover
  • Dissatisfied clients
• Lawyers’ professional obligations
  • Competence
  • Diligence
  • Communication
• Professional interactions with colleagues, other counsel, judicial officers, and court staff

According to the National Task Force on Lawyer Well-Being: “Lawyer well-being is part of a lawyer’s ethical duty of competence. It includes lawyers’ ability to make healthy, positive work/life choices to assure not only a quality of life within their families and communities, but also to help them make responsible decisions for their clients.” Colorado Rule of Professional Conduct 1.16(a)(2) says a lawyer shall not represent a client or must withdraw from representation if his or her mental or physical condition materially impairs the lawyer’s ability to carry out the representation.

Occupational Risks

The Virginia State Bar published a comprehensive report on occupational risks in the legal profession in May 2019. Click here to read.

What is Lawyer “Well-being”?

The National Task Force on Lawyer Well-Being defines well-being as a multi-faceted concept, as illustrated by this graphic from the National Task Force Report. The Report of the National Task Force is available here.

Quick Tips for Greater Well-Being

The Colorado Lawyer Assistance Program (COLAP) offers six quick, helpful tips ranging from how to be more successful, ways to improve your mood, to suggestions on how to get out of a “rut.” COLAP provides free and confidential assistance to judges, lawyers, and law students for a wide variety of personal and professional issues.

Lawyer Well-Being is Good for Business!

Consider the data:

• The National Association for Law Placement’s 2017 Annual Associate Attrition Report: losing one associate alone can cost a law firm anywhere between $200,000 and $500,000. This is due to:
  • Lost revenue
  • Time lost to training and recruitment
  • Administrative costs
• The American Bar Association Commission on Lawyer Assistance Programs and the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation survey on lawyer well-being, released in 2016, showed that of 12,825 lawyers surveyed, including lawyers in Colorado:
  • 28 percent suffered from mild to high levels of depression, and 46 percent reported experiencing depression at some point in practice
  • 19 percent reported mild to high anxiety and 61 percent reported experiencing anxiety at some point in practice
  • 23 percent reported mild to high levels of stress

Consider: Colorado Resources for Lawyer Well-Being

• The Colorado Lawyer Assistance Program (COLAP)
• The Colorado Attorney Mentoring Program (CAMP)

Some Other Solutions

The American Bar Association’s Well-Being Toolkit for Lawyers and Legal Employers, authored by Anne Brafford, contains recommendations to promote well-being in the workplace and to realize greater productivity. Suggestions include:

• Creating programs that encourage help-seeking behaviors
• Starting a well-being committee
• Finding ways to enhance lawyers’ autonomy and sense of control
• Starting interest clubs, such as a walking group, and establishing meditation rooms

The Colorado Task Force on Lawyer Well-Being: Materials and Minutes

Click here to access.