Oct. 21, 2020 – Major players within Wisconsin’s legal community have come together to address an important issue: the health and well-being of Wisconsin lawyers.

Recently, a Task Force on Wisconsin Lawyer Well-Being was formed to address and recommend how Wisconsin’s legal community can better address substance abuse and mental health issues that affect lawyers, members of a stressful profession.

The task force includes members of the Wisconsin Supreme Court and State Bar of Wisconsin leadership, judges, representatives from regulatory agencies, specialty bars, the law schools, solo, small, and large firm practioners, corporate counsel, public defenders and prosecutors, and others with an interest in keeping lawyers healthy.

La Crosse County Circuit Court Judge Todd Bjerke is the chair of the task force. He talked with the State Bar recently to provide an update on the task force’s work.

Lawyer Well-Being is a Priority

In 2016, a landmark study revealed that members of the legal professional have higher rates of substance abuse and mental health issues than the general population.

That led to the formation of a National Task Force on Lawyer Well-Being, which released a report in 2017 with recommendations to address and improve lawyer well-being for different segments of the lawyer population working in different settings.

Now, in collaboration with the State Bar’s Wisconsin Lawyer Assistance Program (WisLAP), the Task Force on Wisconsin Lawyer Well-Being is developing a state-specific plan. The task force convened this fall and hopes to conclude its work with specific recommendations next year.

“The law profession is a stressful one,” said Judge Bjerke, who has worked many years on lawyer well-being issues and is the current chair of the WisLAP Committee.

For the last 10 years, he has run La Crosse County’s Veterans Court, so he sees first-hand how the stresses and trauma of military service affect the lives of veterans. Judge Bjerke himself served in the U.S Marine Corps and the Judge Advocate General Corps.

“A lot of times, attorneys are highly educated and have an appearance they want to make to their clients and the public and the people they work with.

“When there are stigmas attached to their lives, such as alcoholism, mental health, or other issues that could undermine the ability to perform properly.”

Thus, attorneys may ignore a potential well-being issue, hide it or try to suppress it. “In those cases they don’t deal with it or even know they have it,” Judge Bjerke said.

The task force is working on recommendations to help reduce that stigma. One of the goals is to help lawyers become aware, as early as possible, of the stresses they are facing and help them find ways to reduce stress before problems arise.

The Task Force on Wisconsin Lawyer Well-Being has more than 40 members, representation from all different settings in Wisconsin’s legal community.

Task Force on Wisconsin Lawyer Well-Being