VSB President’s Wellness Committee Report
On August 14, 2017, a landmark report on attorney well-being was published by the National Task Force on Lawyer Well-Being (National Task Force). The National Task Force was established by the ABA Commission on Lawyer Assistance Pro-grams, the National Organization of Bar Counsel, and the Association of Professional Responsibility Lawyers. The report described in great detail the wellness deficiencies that exist within the legal profession.
This dearth of information and resources served as the impetus for this Committee and its report. Stated simply, before the wellness crisis can be properly addressed, the root causes of the wellness issues must be identified. Once identified, participants in the profession will hopefully become educated and informed of the risks, so that those risks can be avoided or at least the effects of those risks can be mitigated.
This Committee was established with the sole mission of producing this report, which identifies at least some of the occupational risks of the practice of law. This Committee was tasked with completing its report during the term of the 80th President of the Virginia State Bar.