The Boulder County District Attorney’s Office participated in a well-being program for legal employers resulting in a new plan.
The Colorado Supreme Court created a well-being program to determine if a formal program should be created to support legal staff who have been impacted by secondary, or vicarious, trauma.
The well-being program’s goal is to “formally recognize and incentivize legal employers seeking to adopt significant, ongoing and purposeful lawyer well-being strategies and initiatives within their organizations,” according to the Colorado Well-Being Program website.
District Attorney Michael Dougherty stated, “Our office is excited to be a part of this effort. We were honored to represent the prosecution community in further developing well-being programs to address the significant exposure to trauma and difficult cases. The well-being of our staff is a priority.”
Colorado Supreme Court’s Well-Being Recognition Program for Legal Employers pilot launched in June 2020 with 27 participants. Due to COVID-19, the program was entirely virtual and ended in May 2021.
The program began due to growing concerns of legal professionals suffering from mental health and substance abuse issues, according to the program’s final report.
The report quotes data from 2016 that states that in 13,000 practicing lawyers, between 21% and 36% qualify as drinkers with between 19% and 28% struggling with significant levels of depression, anxiety and stress.
These issues have led to a growing number of individuals leaving the field which leads to increased costs for law firms.
“According to one estimate, the cost of replacing a departing associate ranges from $200,000 to $500,000, or roughly 1.5 to 2 times the annual salary of the associate. This only estimates hard costs and may not include lost productivity, other lawyers’ time, and disrupted intrafirm and client relationships,” according to The Happy Lawyer: Making a Good Life in the Law by Nancy Levit and Douglas O. Linder.
“We are grateful we were selected to participate in this pilot. We already had several positive well-being initiatives in place, and we’ve now implemented additional efforts focused on building resilience and proactively addressing the impacts of our high-stress, trauma-exposed work. By supporting our employees’ well-being, we better support our office’s important work and our community’s health and safety,” Director of Center for Prevention and Restorative Justice Elaina Shively stated.
The pilot program concluded that there is a need for supports among those in the law profession. The program will offer participants access to education, resources, support and technical assistance in order to incorporate well-being strategies into law organizations across the state, according to the program’s final report.
“This Recognition Program is not meant to replace existing programs, but it may provide additional ideas, incentives, and support for legal employers seeking to implement well-being best practices,” the report states.
