Image: ShutterstockFirms Recognize Profession's Pressures at Start of Mental Health Awareness Month
Orrick chairman and CEO Mitch Zuklie cited a recent law firm leader's death in a firmwide email, while Fried Frank is unveiling a new wellness initiative.
May 01, 2019 at 05:16 PM
2 minute read
Wednesday marks the start of Mental Health Awareness Month in the U.S. It arrives at a time when law firm leaders are increasingly keyed in to the high stakes surrounding mental health issues in the profession.
At Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson, chairman David Greenwald sent an email to the firm Wednesday announcing the launch of a formal wellness program, Living Well at Fried Frank, in which the firm is addressing the three connected areas of mental health, fitness and nutrition, and work/life integration.
While the firm already gives employees access to programs in these areas, including third-party resources that offer such services as backup day care, counseling, discounted gym memberships, an annual health fair, corporate runs and sports leagues, it's now centralizing all these resources on a dedicated intranet page.
The page will be updated regularly with new resources, including programs unveiled in London last October for World Mental Health Day.
Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe chairman and CEO Mitch Zuklie also sent a firmwide email this week highlighting resources for lawyers and employees who might be struggling—with “Taking Care of Ourselves and Each Other” as the subject line—and started off by citing the recent death of Baker McKenzie chairman Paul Rawlinson.
“Among Paul's legacies was helping to spark an honest dialogue in our profession about mental and physical health when he took leave from his firm six months ago,” Zuklie wrote in an email obtained by ALM. “That decision reminded all of us that mental health challenges, and related physical symptoms, do not discriminate among job titles. These issues do not go after the weak.”
Orrick would be rerunning a popular webinar on managing stress and responding to mental health issues that go beyond stress on Wednesday, the email said. Zuklie also reminded lawyers and others about the firm's employee assistance program, as well as the independent Lawyers Depression Project, an online support group for attorneys.
Zuklie acknowledged that high-performing individuals in demanding professions such as law can be particularly shy when it comes to asking for health. “Please don't be,” he wrote.
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