Well-Being - Law Society of Alberta

These resources assist lawyers in making their own physical, mental and emotional well-being a priority and support their capacity to practise competently. They help lawyers manage the stresses of practice in the ways that are effective for their individual circumstances in order to provide high-quality legal services and promote healthy workplaces.

Resource	Description	Topic	Audience	Format	Publisher
Assist	The mission of the Alberta Lawyers’ Assistance Society is to provide confidential help to lawyers, law students and their immediate families with personal issues.	Build Resilience, Maintain Personal Health	Private Practice, Management, In-House, Sole Practitioner & Small Firm, Government & Non-Profit	Website	External Source
Ethically Speaking: Addiction	A lawyer who knows that a colleague is impaired bears the burden of ensuring steps are taken to protect client interests, and may carry an additional burden: worry for their colleague. Empathy, the ability to share or understand another’s experiences, can help the lawyer navigate the difficult path of addressing lawyer impairment.	Support Others	Private Practice, Management, In-House, Sole Practitioner & Small Firm, Government & Non-Profit	Article	Law Society of Alberta
Ethically Speaking: Civility and Burnout	Civility is a concrete tenet of practice. In R v Felderhof, the Ontario Court of Appeal notes that civility is not merely an adornment. It holds the legal profession together and contributes to a just society. Uncivil conduct, conduct that is abrasive, hostile or obstructive, impedes the court’s ability to resolve conflict in a fair, efficient and effective manner.	Build Resilience, Self-Awareness	Private Practice, Management, In-House, Sole Practitioner & Small Firm, Government & Non-Profit	Article	Law Society of Alberta
Ethically Speaking: Competence and Wellness	If competence means doing something successfully or efficiently, a lawyer’s competence includes additional esoteric components.	Maintain Personal Health, Self-Awareness	Private Practice, Management, In-House, Sole Practitioner & Small Firm, Government & Non-Profit	Article	Law Society of Alberta
Ethically Speaking: How Do I Minimize and Manage Conflict With Clients and Other Lawyers?	Managing conflict with clients involves training clients to understand how the lawyer practises, educating them that not only is the lawyer not the aggressor they see on television programs, but that their interests are not served by such aggression for aggression’s sake. Taking steps at the beginning of a file to set out the lawyer’s practice style can allow the client to assess whether the practice style aligns with their values.	Build Resilience, Self-Awareness	Private Practice, Management, In-House, Sole Practitioner & Small Firm, Government & Non-Profit	Article	Law Society of Alberta
Ethically Speaking: Immune-Compromised Work Expectations	What should I do if I’m immune compromised or someone in my family is immune-compromised but I’m still expected to come into work?	Maintain Personal Health	Private Practice, Management, In-House, Sole Practitioner & Small Firm, Government & Non-Profit	Article	Law Society of Alberta
Ethically Speaking: Linking Civility and Well-Being	A key strategy in developing resilience to incivility is mindfulness, also characterized as mental flexibility. Practising mindfulness increases awareness of stress triggers and the accompanying thoughts and feelings that arise from them, which in turn can reduce impulsive reacting to those stressors.	Build Resilience, Support Others	Private Practice, Management, In-House, Sole Practitioner & Small Firm, Government & Non-Profit	Article	Law Society of Alberta
Get a Practice Plus-One	If you practice on your own, you may also have noticed how hard it is to take a vacation or just step back from the details of practice for a while.	Maintain Personal Health, Build Resilience	Private Practice, Management, In-House, Sole Practitioner & Small Firm, Government & Non-Profit	Article	Law Society of Alberta
Letter from Assist: Lawyers and Substance Use	While we do not have a current study of Alberta lawyers, or even Canadian lawyers, and their consumption of alcohol and other substances during the pandemic, other research suggests that it is likely that some Alberta lawyers are drinking more during the pandemic. What does this mean for us as a community?	Maintain Personal Health, Support Others	Private Practice, Management, In-House, Sole Practitioner & Small Firm, Government & Non-Profit	Article	Law Society and External Collaboration
Letter from Assist: Insight into Lawyer Well-Being Data	Canadian lawyers and articling students are experiencing high levels of psychological distress, anxiety, depressive symptoms, burnout, and suicidal ideation, and consumption of alcohol and drugs is at a worrying level, according to the National Study on Lawyer Well-Being (the study), released in late October.	Build Resilience, Maintain Personal Health	Private Practice, Management, In-House, Sole Practitioner & Small Firm, Government & Non-Profit	Article	Law Society and External Collaboration
Letter from Assist: Q&A on Assist Trends over 25 Years With Bob Philp, KC	Alberta Lawyers’ Assistance Society (Assist) has been helping Alberta lawyers for 25 years. Bob Philp, KC, who has served as a director of Assist through this entire period, talks about how the “lawyers helping lawyers” movement has developed during this time.	Build Resilience, Maintain Personal Health	Private Practice, Management, In-House, Sole Practitioner & Small Firm, Government & Non-Profit	Article	Law Society and External Collaboration
Letter from Assist: Trends in Assist Usage During the Pandemic	Individual circumstances have caused large variations in individual stress and distress levels. What can we learn about how Alberta lawyers and students are managing?	Build Resilience, Maintain Personal Health	Private Practice, Management, In-House, Sole Practitioner & Small Firm, Government & Non-Profit	Article	Law Society and External Collaboration
Letter from Assist: Unspoken Conflict and Boundaries	Burnout is a common issue faced by lawyers. We work long hours for extended periods of time, or chronically, and we postpone personal gratification because our professional commitments take precedence. Self-care takes a backseat because it is seen as an indulgence. This was true before the pandemic and has become even more embedded in our culture during our 24/7 remote work strategies.	Maintain Personal Health, Self-Awareness	Private Practice, Management, In-House, Sole Practitioner & Small Firm, Government & Non-Profit	Article	Law Society and External Collaboration
Letter from the Law Society: A Year Into Working Remotely	The move to and continuation of remote working, and the other social restrictions with which we have become all too familiar, are focused on protecting our families, our work families, our clients and society at large.	Maintain Personal Health, Support Others	Private Practice, Management, In-House, Sole Practitioner & Small Firm, Government & Non-Profit	Article	Law Society of Alberta
Letter from the Law Society: Building a Stronger Team	With rising demand for good legal talent, and head-hunters routinely reaching out to offer big bonuses and salaries to our associates, now, more than ever, it is an absolute necessity to build a workplace where associates feel appreciated and valued.	Self-Awareness, Support Others	Private Practice, Management, In-House, Sole Practitioner & Small Firm, Government & Non-Profit	Article	Law Society of Alberta
Letter from Assist: “I am feeling burned out. Can you help me?”	Admitting that you need help is hard especially for lawyers who are used to being problem solvers. Assist believes in acting promptly when a lawyer or student reaches out for assistance. Self-assessing whether you are in crisis can pose an extra barrier. Many people are reluctant to “bother” the psychologists after hours, but it is important for lawyers and students to know that Assist does not screen for crisis situations or judge callers who may not be in full-blown crisis — we would rather just help them.	Build Resilience, Maintain Personal Health	Private Practice, Management, In-House, Sole Practitioner & Small Firm, Government & Non-Profit	Article	Law Society and External Collaboration
Letter from the Law Society: Let’s Not Return to ‘Normal’	Once our work environment returns to ‘normal’, however that looks for each of us, many of the same issues that contributed to the decline in our mental health pre-pandemic will continue to exist. Many of us will still face excessive working hours, high pressure and competitive environments, high-conflict situations, and be subject to both internal and external unrealistic standards of perfection. The transition may also come with its own additional stressors.	Maintain Personal Health, Support Others	Private Practice, Management, In-House, Sole Practitioner & Small Firm, Government & Non-Profit	Article	Law Society of Alberta
Letter from the Law Society: The Intersection of Lawyer Competence and Lawyer Well-Being	Lawyers perform high-stakes, mentally challenging and often emotionally taxing work. Our ability to competently meet client needs depends on both our bodies and our minds remaining in good health.	Build Resilience, Maintain Personal Health	Private Practice, Management, In-House, Sole Practitioner & Small Firm, Government & Non-Profit	Article	Law Society of Alberta
Letter from the Law Society: The Well-being Matrix – Why Equity, Diversity and Inclusion are Essential to a Healthy Legal Profession	Each day in addition to the rigors of practising law, some of us, because of who we are and how we identify, weigh our words, check our facial expressions, agonize over a hand gesture and, wonder if our setting an otherwise reasonable boundary is being interpreted as rude.	Self-Awareness, Support Others	Private Practice, Management, In-House, Sole Practitioner & Small Firm, Government & Non-Profit	Article	Law Society of Alberta
Mental Health in the Legal Profession: Your Obligations and How to Help	If you suspect a mental health issue is affecting another lawyer’s practice, what should you do?	Support Others	Private Practice, Management, In-House, Sole Practitioner & Small Firm, Government & Non-Profit	Article	Law Society of Alberta
Preparing for a Leave	There are any number of reasons why a lawyer may take a break or a leave from practice. For lawyers considering these options, there are both practical and regulatory factors that need to be addressed.	Maintain Personal Health	Private Practice, Management, In-House, Sole Practitioner & Small Firm, Government & Non-Profit	Article, Checklist	Law Society of Alberta
Psychological First-Aid: Alcohol Use	Substance use is a major problem. For professionals, like lawyers, whose job is safety-sensitive and decision-critical, chronic alcohol use would put those they serve at increasing risk. On average five per cent of lawyers seeking assistance from Lawyer’s Assist present with the primary issue being alcohol and/or drug problems.	Support Others	Private Practice, Management, In-House, Sole Practitioner & Small Firm, Government & Non-Profit	Article	Law Society and External Collaboration
Psychological First-Aid: Helping the Stressed/Distressed Individual	The stress and distress that we experience is the result of many factors including work, family, finances, parenting, health, and fear about the future, to name a few.	Support Others	Private Practice, Management, In-House, Sole Practitioner & Small Firm, Government & Non-Profit	Article	Law Society and External Collaboration
Psychological First-Aid: Stepping Up to the Plate	Psychological First-Aid (PFA) is an evidence-based intervention designed to reduce an individual’s level of stress or distress and to foster short and long-term adaptive functioning and coping. It is a supportive intervention designed to help the individual help themselves.	Support Others	Private Practice, Management, In-House, Sole Practitioner & Small Firm, Government & Non-Profit	Article	Law Society and External Collaboration
Psychological First Aid: Stress and Burnout	Do you feel helpless, disillusioned and completely exhausted due to constant stress? If so, you may be on the road to burnout. Psychologists use the term “burnout” in work world contexts to define a syndrome conceptualized as resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed.	Build Resilience, Maintain Personal Health	Private Practice, Management, In-House, Sole Practitioner & Small Firm, Government & Non-Profit	Article	Law Society and External Collaboration
Psychological First Aid: The Power of Kindness	Research has found that performing acts of kindness reduces stress, increases happiness, reduces blood pressure, reduces pain, boosts health and increases longevity. In essence, spreading kindness not only benefits others by helping them to feel better, it also benefits the giver.	Support Others	Private Practice, Management, In-House, Sole Practitioner & Small Firm, Government & Non-Profit	Article	Law Society and External Collaboration
Psychological First-Aid: Understanding Internal Conflict at Work	Workplace conflict is not just limited to conflict with colleagues, bosses and organizations, but can have far reaching implications not only for the practice of law but for the personal and mental well-being of lawyers and their families.	Maintain Personal Health, Support Others	Private Practice, Management, In-House, Sole Practitioner & Small Firm, Government & Non-Profit	Article	Law Society and External Collaboration
We Don’t Talk About Burnout – No No No!	Burnout isn’t necessarily something lawyers are willing to openly discuss or admit. It is one of many mental health challenges that we often just don’t want to talk about. But until we do talk about it, healing is difficult. Burnout symptoms can range from things like low productivity and loss of motivation to the more serious extreme of feeling of hopelessness. We know that burnout is endemic.	Maintain Personal Health, Support Others	Private Practice, Management, In-House, Sole Practitioner & Small Firm, Government & Non-Profit	Article	Law Society of Alberta
A Word on Wellness: Cultivating Well-Being	As is oft quoted, well-being is a journey, not a destination. An essential aspect of the journey is finding and maintaining routines, supports and resources that work for you.	Build Resilience, Maintain Personal Health	Private Practice, Management, In-House, Sole Practitioner & Small Firm, Government & Non-Profit	Article	Law Society of Alberta
A Word on Wellness: Dear Advy: Well Meaning, Well-Being Advice	Dear Advy is an advice column by the Canadian Bar Association. Members of the legal community can submit questions anonymously on anything and everything related to well-being, dealing with stress and succeeding under pressure. If a question is chosen, Advy will respond with advice and helpful resources.	Maintain Personal Health, Support Others	Private Practice, Management, In-House, Sole Practitioner & Small Firm, Government & Non-Profit	Article	Law Society of Alberta
A Word on Wellness: Empathy in Practice	Empathy is a critical skill to help effectively meet clients’ needs. The notion that a lawyer’s role is to dispassionately focus on the facts ignores the reality that for most clients, emotions cannot be separated from the issues at hand. It is important to remember that being empathetic does not mean you need to agree with everything your client says or become emotionally invested in their circumstances. Nor should empathy be equated with attempting to be a counsellor for your client.	Support Others	Private Practice, Management, In-House, Sole Practitioner & Small Firm, Government & Non-Profit	Article	Law Society of Alberta
A Word on Wellness: How to Talk About Addiction With Dignity	Words matter and when it comes to talking about the disease of addiction, we can all do a little better and expand our vocabulary to those living with or experiencing the impact of substance use disorder.	Support Others	Private Practice, Management, In-House, Sole Practitioner & Small Firm, Government & Non-Profit	Article	Law Society of Alberta
A Word on Wellness: Preventing Conflict in the Virtual Office	Although healthy conflict is part of relationships, some conflict can be prevented by creating a positive virtual workplace. Here are three tips that might help you identify and prevent conflict.	Support Others	Private Practice, Management, In-House, Sole Practitioner & Small Firm, Government & Non-Profit	Article	Law Society of Alberta
Law Firms and Security Strategies for Today's World	Lawyers must pay as much attention to their physical security as they do to the security if trust funds and electronic data. Learn about best practices for securing your office and ensuring the safety of your staff.	Maintain Personal Health, Support Others	Private Practice, Management, In-House, Sole Practitioner & Small Firm, Government & Non-Profit	Article	Law Society of Alberta
Returning to Active Practice	Whether you are a seasoned stay-at-home mom who has taken a few years off, you have taken time to care for a loved one, or you have worked outside the legal profession, returning to active practice after an extended hiatus can be daunting.	Build Resilience	Private Practice, Management, In-House, Sole Practitioner & Small Firm, Government & Non-Profit	Article, Guide, Checklist	Law Society of Alberta