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32 J. Legal Prof. 289 (2008)
Lawyer Depression: Taking a Closer Look at First-Time Ethics Offenders

handle is hein.journals/jlegpro32 and id is 291 raw text is: LAWYER DEPRESSION: TAKING A CLOSER LOOK AT FIRST-TIME ETHICS OFFENDERS Commentators have devoted much attention to the role of clinical de- pression in the legal profession.' Recent articles address the need for an immediate and effective response to the profession's battle against depres- sion.2 Kristy N. Bernard and Matthew L. Gibson proposed the use of diversion programs as an alternative to traditional attorney discipline in their article Professional Misconduct by Mentally Impaired Attorneys: Is There a Better Way to Treat an Old Problem?3 Since Bernard and Gib- son's article in 2004, a proliferation of articles have been published on this topic4 in state and county bar magazines,' in addition to increasingly rele- vant medical studies and improved treatment options for depressed per- sons. 6 Bernard and Gibson's proposal illustrates the general faults of most of these articles: broad generalizations about mental impairment and fail- ure to offer the means necessary to successfully implement an effective 1. See Robert Dowers, Note, Duties Invoked Under the Model Rules of Professional Conduct by a Mentally Impaired Lawyer, 19 GEO. J. LEGAL ETHICS 681 (2006); Charles I. Nelson & Justin L. Garrett, II, Beyond Mere Ethics: Improving Professionalism in the Practice of Law, 67 ALA. LAW. 180 (2006); Jack Focht, Representing the Impaired Lawyer, J. KAN. B. ASs'N, Sept. 2005, at 37. 2. See Michael Hatfield, Fear, Legal Indeterminacy, and the American Lawyering Culture, 10 LEWIS & CLARK L. REv. 511 (2006); Martha S. Dickie, Outside Your Comfort Zone, 69 TEx B.J. 608 (2006); Reed Elizabeth Loder, Lawyers and Gratitude, 20 NOTRE DAME J.L. ETHICS & PUB. POL'Y 175 (2006); Jeanne Marie Leslie, Detach, Relax, Participate: Taking Care of Yourself is Critical, 66 ALA. LAW. 435 (2005). 3. Kristy N. Bernard & Matthew L. Gibson, Note, Professional Misconduct By Mentally Im- paired Attorneys: Is There a Better Way to Treat an Old Problem?, 17 GEO. J. LEGAL ETHICS 619, 620 (2004). 4. See Meloney Crawford Chadwick, Hiding in Plain Sight: Recognizing Signs of Impairment, and What to do About It, OR. ST. B. BULL., Aug.-Sept. 2006, at 25; Suzanne Rose, Risk Management: Is the Culture of Your Firm Inviting Malpractice or Ethics Violations, TENN. B.J., July 2005, at 22; Carole J. Buckner, Ethical Issues Arising from Impairment, ORANGE COUNTY LAW., Jan. 2007, at 42. 5. See supra notes 1, 2 and 3. The majority of articles discussing depression in the legal profes- sion are found in state bar magazines and county bar magazines. The articles are shorter and more straightforward than typical law review articles, thus making the articles more accessible and conven- ient for attorneys who wish to become educated about fighting depression, where to get help, and what sort of treatments are available. 6. Paul Litton & Franklin G. Miller, A Normative Justification for Distinguishing the Ethics of Clinical Research from the Ethics of Medical Care, 33 J.L. MED & ETHICS 566, 572 (2005); Paul S. Appelbaum, M.D., et al., Competence of Depressed Patients for Consent to Research, 156 AM. J. OF PSYCHIATRY 1380 (1999), available at http://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/content/abstract/ 156/9/1380; David Mechanic, The Media, Public Perceptions & Health, and Health Policy, 5 HOUS. J. HEALTH L. & POL'Y 187, 205-06 (2005). But see Sara Hoffman Jurand, Lawsuits Over Antidepres- sants Claim the Drug is Worse than the Disease, TRIAL, Mar. 2003, at 14.

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