STUDY: Chicago Lawyers Found To Be Happy And Smart
December 2007
Happy Holidays. You'll start seeing that just about everywhere now. So the thought was to write something uplifting about our profession to coincide with the time of year.
Can't tell you the number of cheery items I found.
Lawyers have one of the most stressful jobs in the country. (Men's Journal, citing the Bureau of Labor Statistics (Feb. 2004)),
Employees in law firms were the most prone to moderate to severe depression. Lawyers were the most likely to try to mask their symptoms with alcohol or drugs. (The Annual Professions Study, Beaton Consulting (2007)).
A survey of partners in the 125 largest American law firms found that one-third of those partners would choose a different career if they could do it over again. ("Big-Firm Partners: Profession Sinking," Nat'l L.J., May 26, 1997).
A study found that 15 percent of lawyers are alcoholics and another that 18 percent are "problem drinkers," a rate nearly twice as high as the average for U.S. adults. (Report of the Quality of Life Task Force, N.C. Bar Ass'n (1991)).
A 1990 Johns Hopkins University reported that, of more than 100 occupations studied, lawyers are the most likely to suffer depression. ("Occupations and the Prevalence of Major Depressive Disorder," 32 j. Occupational Med. 1079 (1990)).
After reading for a while, I just stopped with the titles.
"Studies Suggest Long Hours, Productivity Pressures, Can Cause Serious Health Problems and a Higher Suicide Rate for Attorneys" (A.B.A. J., Dec. 1997); "Is There a Solution to the Problem of Lawyer Stress?" (10 J.L. & Health 61 (1995)); "Given a Second Chance, Half of the State's Attorneys Would Not Become Lawyers" (Cal. St. B.J., Nov. 1994); "It's Become a Miserable Profession" (Cal. Law., Mar. 1992)).
There are thousands of articles. It's frightening to think that it is so pervasive in our profession and many of us may never see it. In 20 years practicing law at one firm, I can't say that I have. Many of you may be in the same situation.
That doesn't mean it doesn't exist. If we do discover it, we have an obligation to help, both for personal and professional reasons. The personal reasons are obvious.
The professional stem right from Rule 1 of both the Illinois Rules of Professional Conduct and the ABA Model Rules, which state that a "lawyer shall provide competent representation to a client."
If a mental impairment inhibits that, supervising lawyers are required to take steps to assure that the impairment will not result in breaches of the rules. Also, a lawyer must withdraw from representation of a client if his condition renders it unreasonably difficult to carry out employment effectively. (Illinois Rules Professional Conduct 1.16 (3)).
But maybe its not as bad as it seems.
One study--right here in Chicago--cast a different light. A 1999 survey of Chicago lawyers revealed that 84 percent were very satisfied and less than 2 percent very dissatisfied. ("Lawyers and Their Discontents: Findings from a Survey of the Chicago Bar," 74 Ind. L.J. 735 (1999)).
Other studies show that the legal profession doesn't even make the top 10 list as most stressful.
Something called the Jobs Rated Almanac lists the five most stressful occupations as president of the U.S., firefighter, senior corporate execuitive, race car driver, and taxi driver.
That sounds more like a child's answer to an exam question than a study.
A taxi driver? "Yes, can you please press the meter, drive me nine blocks, and then stop?" Good heavens, how do they get through the day?
President? We'll give them that one. One study showed that the pressure was so intense that stress relief involved attacking the source of the stress, be it country or intern.
Stress? How about a miner, a police officer, or the PR man for Blagojevich?
Back in the 1920s, a study of gifted children was begun by noted psychologist Lewis Terman at Stanford University. Among those studied was a small group who had become lawyers.
The data from decades of survey responses from this group revealed that successful lawyers were found to be more content, sophisticated, intelligent, and reasonable.
Less successful lawyers were found to be dissatisfied, depressed, more neurotic, hostile, and less creative. And really bad dressers, probably.
So when we couple the study of Chicago lawyers, showing that we are content and not dissatisfied, with the Terman data, we arrive at the inescapable conclusion that lawyers in Chicago are more successful, competent, sophisticated, intelligent, and reasonable than their counterparts throughout the world.
And knowing that should make your holidays happy. David N. Heilmann is a partner at Clausen Miller. He can be reached at DHEILMANN@clausen.com
