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Mental Health, Substance Abuse & Competence in the Legal Profession
Produced on January 12, 2018
Course Information
Course Description
This program is presented by Will Meyerhofer, a retired corporate attorney who is now a psychotherapist in private practice and an author of books and articles about law and mental health. Will specializes in counseling attorneys struggling with career and life issues, including depression, anxiety, burnout and substance abuse, often as a result of their demanding professional lives.
The program will survey the rates of mental health and substance abuse among attorneys and the specific challenges of the legal profession, including recent developments, that may contribute to the high incidence of these issues. Attorneys will learn strategies to help combat and manage anxiety and depression, spot and address burnout, and comply with the ethical rules regarding mental issues, including handling a situation where a colleague's performance might be compromised by substance abuse.
Learning Objectives:
- Review the existing statistics around attorney mental health and substance abuse and consider their significance to the profession
- Discuss best practices for managing a heavy legal workload, addressing toxic stress, and ensuring competent representation
- Examine the reasons lawyers face high levels of stress, and how this situation may impact the future of the legal profession
Credit Information
Faculty
Will Meyerhofer
A Quiet Room
Will Meyerhofer holds a BA, magna cum laude, from Harvard University, a Juris Doctor from the New York University School of law and a Master of Social Work from the Hunter College School of Social Work. Mr. Meyerhofer is a registered Licensed Clinical Social Worker in New York State, and holds the "R" insurance reimbursement privilege. Since 2005, he has been operating his private practice, A Quiet Room, offering individual, couples and group psychotherapy from his home, a loft in TriBeCa, in Lower Manhattan.
In addition to his work in private practice, Will served as Program Coordinator for the talkSafe/PLUSES project at the St. Vincents Hospital in Greenwich Village from 2004 to 2006, working with individuals and groups to address sexual risk-behaviors and the spread of HIV among gay men. An expert in work with HIV+ gay men, Will has been interviewed on radio discussing this work, and for many years ran a private group at A Quiet Room focused on gay men living with HIV. In 2010 and 2011 Will appeared as a monthly regular guest, "The People's Therapist" on "The Alternative with Terry Grand" a weekly radio program on LA Talk Radio directed at the LGBT community.
In late 2010 Will released his first book, Life is a Brief Opportunity for Joy, an introduction to the concepts and philosophy underlying psychotherapy. That book was released as a paperback in late 2011.
During 2011, Will released a second book, Way Worse Than Being a Dentist – the Lawyer's Quest for Meaning, based on material from his columns on law and psychotherapy from AboveTheLaw.com. A former associate in the General Practice group at Sullivan & Cromwell LLC, Will is an acknowledged expert on psychotherapy and lawyers, has been invited to appear on panels and speaking engagements at law schools around the country, and interviewed and quoted as an expert by radio and print journalists. Will and his practice and writings have been profiled or interviewed in The Financial Times, the ABA Journal, The American Lawyer, Bloomberg TV, and Today.com, among other media outlets.
In March 2013, Will published a comic novel, Bad Therapist: A Romance, about a mild-mannered New York City psychotherapist who falls in love with a blue alien from outer space.
In May of 2016 Will published a follow up to the best-selling Way Worse Than Being a Dentist, imaginatively titled Still Way Worse Than Being a Dentist (the sequel). Just when you thought it was safe to go back to law school...
Will writes a regular column for the popular legal website, AboveTheLaw.com, as well as a blog of his own, The People's Therapist, reflecting a psychotherapist's take on the world. Two years after its launch, ThePeoplesTherapist.com had logged over a million individual views and now approaches three million. Because of his specialized background and the reach of his blog and other writings, Will sees many clients nationally and internationally all over the world, via videochat technology.
Reviews
Best mental health/substance abuse course I've taken so far.
Glad you found a new career path that brings you joy. Thanks for helping others.
Very validating. One of the best CLE's on mental health that I've watched.
The speaker was great. He explained some difficult matters clearly and cogently.
I'd recommend this presentation to EVERY ATTORNEY - the ability to apply it to CLE credits is an add-on bonus to it validates and equips you to navigate your own sanity and happiness in a profession that includes very real challenges to maintaining both. Engaging and affirming presentation of the subject - including the data. My only critique is that the POV of the speaker is rooted in the large law firm experience - and the equally grueling demands on lawyers working as solo practitioners with client expectations get less attention in the examples. That said, the issues that impact solo practitioners are encompassed by the material.
Interesting and sad for attorneys.
Excellent course!
I really needed this. Thank you.
Very well done
Excellent program! Unlike many of the lectures I've seen on this topic, this rang very true.
Excellent course on the stresses of practicing Law.
One of the best courses in program . Outstanding. Should be on every lawyer's agenda.
Very good speaker.
Given the material I did not expect this to be interesting. However, This was a really good presentation.
Better than anything I’ve had the opportunity to learn. Lawyer’s are the worst audience for mental health. Any weakness an attorney can find WILL exploit it. More competitive numbers about other professions. Because it is the ONLY way lawyers will hear anything. “We doing better than this group.” More numbers in comparison to the general populace. More numbers from other professions. Lawyers always have to be better than someone. More general populace. Sighting lawyers that commit suicide v. comedians and multi/billionaires. Perspective
Important topic. Well done.
We need more programs like this.
It was tough to hear this information. Thank you for sharing.
The speaker was interesting and informative. I appreciated his laid back tone during the presentation.
Necessary course for all lawyers
Very good presentation.
I wish I'd had this training prior to law school. Very good overview of mental health issues associated with legal profession. Well done.
The speaker made this topic very interesting and relevant.
Great speaker
Excellent. Every lawyer should be required to listen to this.
Excellent and important information.
Good for mental health component of requirements
very good information.
Excellent program
Great speaker
Excellent course. Highly recommended.
Excellent presentation on a difficult topic.
Loved the conversational style and the sense of humor.
Every lawyer should take this CLE. Great job.
Great course. Would recommend to anyone thinking about law as a profession.
great course
I appreciated the pace and content of his presentation, which was persuasive to me because the therapist had practiced law.
Mr. Meyerhofer was friendly and uplifting. It was much appreciated.
Really good instruction. The presenter was good.
excellent
really interesting presenter
The hour or so went quickly because I enjoyed this course.
Such an important issue for our profession. Wish we could show this to students thinking about entering law school.
GOOD WORK!
Awesome course that everyone should view. Speaker was interesting, engaging, and sincere, and the material he covers is so important.
Very good.
Entertaining.
Fantastic program.
They should clone this therapist, his lecture is beyond accurate.
interesting...sad truth.
One of the best Lawline videos I've seen in 9 years.
I felt so seen listening to this class. I teared up at the end.
Great presentation, done with humor and compassion. The fact that the presenter is a "recovering attorney" made it that much more relevant.
Instructor was great. Felt like I was talking with a friend.
I enjoyed the instructor.
Fantastic.
Great job
Good speaker! Stress is a real issue and he does a great job discussing ways to address it.
I found this presentation to be both informative and inspirational.
eye opening great course materials
Awesome CLE-best one yet.
Nice program
Nicely done talk about some very important facts and ideas for surviving in the legal profession.
incredible class. Gracias senor. Best program I watched in 43 years. Will have my family watch too. Luckily I graduated from a unagrediated law school and had to practice on my own.
One of the best lawline CLEs I’ve heard
The speaker is fantastic.
The statistics about depression and anxiety were particularly sobering (pun intended).
Bring him back for future webinars! Definitely one of the very best presentations on Lawline. Also, please make more of your content—like this one—accredited for both Tennessee and Washington state.
I was not expecting much but found this to be incredibly eye-opening and helpful! I am very glad this is a required CLE credit.
excellent presenter
the best course I have taken
Better than I expected. Good speaker!
The speaker handled a difficult subject well. The material was comprehensive in scope. Well done.
Excellent program. So true.
I think the information of the type in this CLE is so needed in the legal profession. Thank you.
Excellent experience and depth of knowledge.
This was fantastic.
I liked the down-to-earth approach of the presenter.
He was GREAT! Every lawyer should listen to this one and be encouraged they're not alone :)
Really useful and well delivered course!
Should be a required course!
One of the best courses I have attended.
Being told the hard cold truth about your profession is never fun, but the teacher/presenter did such a good job demystifying a lot of things I know that I really knew and he did it with compassion and support. Good job.
Thank you
Excellent topic coverage. Really needed to hear that right now.
Best Lawline seminar I have heard. Truly helpful and outstanding. Engaging presenter.
really well done
Amazing presenter. One of the best I have attended.
great reminder on many fronts
Very informative and the speaker was very engaging. One of the better speakers by far.
Instructor was very knowledgeable and personable.
Best course I have heard on lawline.
best!
Great stuff!
The best Lawline Course I have taken
Great!
Great course
Great presentation.
Program hit the nail on the head! Good engaging speaker.
Thought that presenter was rather terrific. Great personality and very entertaining for such a serious topic.
Knowledgeable, animated presented. Better than most MH CLE I have attended.
I liked the part about the culture of law firms.
Great job!
Very very helpful
Always important to focus on mental health.
Good presentation
This presenter was excellent. The information was really insightful.
Great!
Great Speaker! Very Informative!
As I sit here listening and doing motions on Sunday afternoon, this CLE hit home. I don't know the answers, but it is nice to know that I'm not alone. Thank you.
excellent speaker
Great course!
I liked the presenter; he was engaged, at ease discussing the topic, and used great examples.
Excellent.
This course was interesting and easy to follow.
Really excellent, concrete and relevant.
This program was outstanding. The instructor's tone was engaging, thoughtful, and extremely well-organized.
Good Content.
Well presented and interesting material; speaker knows his subject matter and spoke with empathy and understanding
This program really nailed the nature of the legal profession.
Superb
Excellent presentation. The presenter was very engaging.
Great instruction
Great course.
Great!
Great speaker.
Very Informative.
Great topic, very informative.
great
Very interesting!! Both informative and interesting.
This, by far, was the most engaging faulty member. I look forward to other programs with him.
Very good.
Great presentation. More of this, please!
I really enjoyed this class! Thank you!
The instructor was excellent
Excellent presenter with good information.
This course contained important statistical information about the affects of Depression and Anxiety within the legal profession. I found this information consistent with what I have witnessed, during my years of practice.
Great CLE!! Engaging and informative speaker.
The best.
speaker very sincere
Nice job.
An important subject. Fantastic presentation. Well done.
This guy is terrific.
Helpful CLE.
good class
Best program on this issue.
Best presenter I've seen so far.
Very great lecture about where these mental problems are coming from.
Great program!
good job. Nice pace and good demeanor
Great presentation!
Great insight
The best CLE I've listened to on Lawline to date.
very informative and interesting
Excellent course
Excellent presenter
The presenter is a knowledgeable insider with tremendous insight that allows him to precisely addresses the confluence of factors that cause so many attorneys to hate their lives. I highly recommend this course to fellow attorneys, and also to law students or those considering entering the legal profession.
Truly helpful.
This is the best Lawline course I've listened to. Highly recommended. This one should be required.
Excellent presentation.
Great program! I feel better already.
bright and caring instructor
Presenter was very personable.
Excellent
compelling statistics; ability to offer insightful commentary well beyond general overviews on slides-greatly appreciated.
Charismatic presenter.
Will did a fantastic job. I believe he is my favorite lecturer so far!
I truly enjoyed this presentation.
Good instructor
Good presenter.Energetic & empathic.
Very well done.
The speaker did a great job.
Absolutely great. Is required in Illinois and should be required everywhere.
Well qualified and entertaining presentation
He was awesome. Favorite course this year!
Excellent program...35 years as attorney...enjoyed his presentation.
I thoroughly enjoyed the presentation and would like to send it to my daughter, an anxious law student who is soon starting as a summer associate at the presenters former firm.
Valuable insight into some of the underlying issues contributing to the increased rate of depression among lawyers today.
Hands down, the best presentation I've seen on this topic.
The presenter was fantastic and provided incredible insight.
Great idea to have a psychologist do this course. Very insightful and helpful.
Great presenter. interesting and a natural at it.
this was a really good seminar
Thank you for this very informative lesson!
Sobering Topic.
Very open and informative.
One of the best programs I have seen on this subject matter.
Excellent presentation.
Great presenter! Tough, "depressing" topic, but the presenter was upbeat and reassuring. Felt like an hour of therapy!
Amusing video. Good one to share with your kid when they say they want to go to law school. :-)
Felt like he was telling my story ;)
most honest presentation on issue I have ever seen. in 35 yrs of practicing law.
I learned more about the importance of life balance as an attorney
Wish there were more seminars as helpful and informative as this one.
Good background and statistics illustrating the problems. Would suggest possibly some more focus on how to address these problems personally and as a profession.
Thank you!
Good course and lecturer.
Really enjoyed this speaker and felt his points were spot on. Would have loved to have heard suggestions for how we can change this profession!
Great presenter. This should be a required presentation for law school students and/or newly licensed lawyers. I could have done without the mention of evolution as this speaks to a personal, scientific belief and did not feel it was topically related. But overall, fantastic presentation.
Excellent presentation. Agreed with other commenters that it would be a great add for law schools to help law students understand their vulnerabilities in the profession.
One of the most appropriate coursed I have taken; all lawyers should see this!
This is the most honest CLE I've taken, and this presentation should be required for every entering 1L and new attorney.
Very good presentation.
I wish I had seen this program 15 years ago. It would have been helpful to know that I wasn't the problem, I was simply surrounded by sick people.
Pace and content were both excellent!
Very informative and should be offered especially to young lawyers and law students
Really great topic that should be discussed with all lawyers (particularly new lawyers and maybe even law students).
This was outstanding! One of the best courses I've attended. Thank you!
Absolutely terrific presentation!
Most helpful CLE in this area I've ever attended
good speaker
Will did a fantastic job. This was the best program I've watched so far.