CBA Record Feb-March 2018

YLS Special Issue: The Benefits of Belonging

lawyers are regulated to instill greater well-being in the profession. The report recommends that regulators, like the Illinois Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission (ARDC), adopt regulatory objectives that prioritize lawyer well-being; modify the rules of professional conduct to endorse well-being as part of a lawyer’s duty of competence; expand con- tinuing education requirements to include well-being topics; implement Proactive Management-Based Programs that include lawyer well-being components; adopt a centralized grievance system; modify con- fidentiality rules to allow sharing of lawyer well-being information from regulators to lawyer assistance programs; and adopt diversion programs. What is Attorney Well-Being? The National Task Force defined “lawyer well-being” as a “continuous process whereby lawyers seek to thrive in each of the following areas: emotional health, occupational pursuits, creative or intel- lectual endeavors, sense of spirituality or 2014 Survey of Law Student Well-Being (David Jaffe and Jerry Organ, and funded by the ABA Enterprise Fund and the Dave Nee Foundation). Consider the following froma 2014 Survey of Law Student Well-Being: • 89.6% of respondent-students had a drink of alcohol in the last 30 days. • 21.6%reported binge drinking at least twice in the past two weeks. • 20.4%have thought seriously about suicide sometime in their life. • 6.3% have thought seriously about suicide in the last 12 months. • 20% screened positive for depression at some time in their life. • Roughly one-sixth of those with a depres- sion diagnosis had received the diagnosis since starting law school.

new rules and procedures with a focus on lawyer well-being, which coincide with the recommendations contained in the National Task Force report. In September of 2016, with the approval of the Illinois Supreme Court, the ARDC adopted Commission Rule 56 which pro- vides for a Diversion Program. Under the new diversion rule, the ARDC administrator and an attorney may enter into a diversion agreement at any stage of a disciplinary investigation, under defined, but flexible circumstances. The objective of the diversion program is to encourage early identification and resolution of issues that negatively affect an attorney’s ability to properly represent clients and that contribute to grievances and, in addition, to provide assistance to the attorney to rectify those issues and engage with appropriate services. Those issues and assistance may involve a lawyer’s physical and/or mental wellness. The diversion program is consistent with the vision that the Illinois Supreme Court articulated for the ARDC in In re Thomas, 2012 IL 113035. In Thomas, the Court stated: The volume of complaints received by the Commission requires the Administrator to set priorities and allocate resources. An investiga- tion into allegations of less serious misconduct may be closed so that other, more serious allegations may

greater purpose in life, physical health and social connections with others. Lawyer well-being is part of a lawyer’s ethical duty of competence. It includes lawyers’ ability to make healthy, positive work/life choices to assure not only a quality of life within their families and communities, but also to help them make responsible decisions for their clients. It includes maintaining their own long term well-being. This definition highlights that complete health is not defined solely by the absence of illness; it includes a positive state of wellness.” Wellness and the ARDC The mission of the ARDC is to promote and protect the integrity of the legal profession, at the direction of the Illinois Supreme Court, through attorney registra- tion, education, investigation, prosecu- tion and remedial action. This article, for example, is focused on promoting and pro- tecting the integrity of the legal profession through remedial action as delineated in the ARDC mission. Unfortunately, many lawyers only first seek assistance for their substance abuse or mental health issues when they are encouraged or compelled to do so as a result of contact by the disci- plinary office. Remedial action is defined in the Cam- bridge English Dictionary as, “an activity intended to correct or improve something, especially skills.” In furtherance of that goal, the ARDC has implemented several

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