Prioritize Wellness: It's the Right Thing to Do

Every day, we work together to advance the communities we care about. At ALPS, that means we’re thoughtful in our charitable giving of elevating children in our local communities. We’re thoughtful in providing resources to lawyers beginning their journey as solo practitioners or in need of law practice management resources, thus making them better practitioners.  And we’re thoughtful about the health and well-being of our legal community as a whole, as we’ve worked to advance a national well-being dialogue designed to engineer a culture shift in the legal profession. Not because it lowers the likelihood of a claim (we believe that it could), but because it is the right thing to do, honoring the special relationship we enjoy with lawyers and those working to problem-solve for clients.   

Earlier this year, I was tapped as board president for the nation’s preeminent think-tank working on well-being in law issues — the Institute for Well-Being in Law, an organization ALPS helped found nearly two years ago. Known at that time as the National Task Force on Lawyer Well-Being, the institute issued a call to action to the legal profession in response to two seminal studies showing unacceptably high rates of behavioral health disorders among lawyers and law students. Believing our profession to be at a tipping point, we formed the signature IWIL event, Well-Being Week in Law, to raise awareness of this culture crisis, encouraging national participation in 5 days packed with content, resources, and activities shining a light on well-being issues and advancing the mental health of those in the legal profession. 

ALPS was honored to participate in all of the Well-Being Week in Law activities and will continue to raise awareness about mental health and encourage action and innovation across the legal profession to improve well-being all year round.