Study: Future Lawyers Are Hiding Depression and Drug and Alcohol Use

Some of America’s future lawyers are hiding drug, alcohol, and depression problems instead of seeking help, a new report shows. Law students with addiction and mental health issues may be afraid to report the problems because they think that doing so would jeopardize their chances of being admitted to the bar or getting a good job after graduating, according to the study, which was conducted by a law professor, a dean of law students, and the programming director of a nonprofit focused on lawyers' mental health. It was published last month in the Bar Examiner, an industry magazine.

“Students who probably need to seek help are profoundly reluctant to, because they don’t perceive seeking help as being beneficial to their bar admission process,” said Jerome Organ, a law professor at the University of St. Thomas in Minnesota and one of the report’s authors. Organ suggested that the effect of untreated addiction or depression in lawyers could affect their ability to serve clients. “If I am dealing with mental health issues that are untreated, and I am not taking care of myself, I’m probably not going to be able to take care of someone else well.”