Members of the Young family paddle down the street from their home to check on some friends in the aftermath of Hurricane Jeanne in 2004. (J. Albert Diaz/Herald Staff)

Practicing law can lead to extreme stress, contributing to high rates of depression and addiction in the profession. But what about when the stress comes from traumatic situations outside the workplace?

“Our philosophy is the same. We don't differentiate between personal problems and work problems,” said Annette Sciallo, director of global benefits and well-being at Latham & Watkins.

Sciallo said the firm's wellness program, called LiveWell Latham, approaches the whole person, “because at the end of the day we are all human, because people have lives outside the office.”

Latham is not alone in its approach.

One recent example is Mayer Brown's handling of a situation involving a partner in Houston. Jessica Crutcher sued Brennan's of Houston for $20 million earlier this year, alleging she was raped by a bartender formerly employed there. Finding it difficult to concentrate on her job because of post-traumatic stress disorder, she has been on leave for nearly a year. Crutcher said in an interview with Texas Lawyer that Mayer Brown has been very supportive.

A spokesman for Mayer Brown declined to discuss the firm's policies toward lawyers facing stressful times. But Crutcher's situation brings attention to the question of what firms do to assist lawyers or employees who are dealing with crippling stress, or related dangerous addictions, as a result of non-work-related situations or events.

Sciallo said Latham has developed customized resources with medical providers to support lawyers and others facing difficult times. And, she said, the firm is working on creating a “culture of empathy” so people are comfortable coming forward and asking for help.

In one situation, Sciallo said, a staffer's husband was diagnosed with cancer. When the staffer got to a point where she needed help and confided in her boss, Latham's human resources connected her with an assistance program at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.

“This empowers people. They can get some control,” Sciallo said.

In May, Latham launched concierge counseling, she said.

“Let's say I'm a lawyer. I'm feeling a lot of stress and I'm feeling overworked but my mother has cancer, too. These counselors are trained to dive into this deeply,” Sciallo said.

Paul Hastings has a small team within its human resources department that focuses strictly on leaves of absence, including time away from the firm to handle non-work-related stress. John Winger, director of  talent management, said Paul Hastings looks at employees' wellbeing holistically.

“There is just a panoply of issues coming to the forefront,” Winger said. “Maybe we have the millennials to thank for this. There is no longer a stigma of taking care of mental health and including mental health as an element of general wellness.”

He said anything the firm does to accommodate lawyers and staff who are facing difficult personal problems helps the firm's business, because it reduces burnout.

Mark Sloan, managing partner of Dallas-based Thompson & Knight, said that because of the firm's size—it had 282 lawyers in 2018—everyone knows most everyone else. And that can help in addressing the traumas that happen outside work.

“When somebody really has a personal tragedy or something going on in their life, we tend to know about it. We go talk to them and encourage them to take the time they need. It's nothing more formalized than that,” he said, adding that the firm does have specific procedures for dealing with substance abuse and other sensitive issues.

David Taylor, chair of Locke Lord, said the Dallas-based firm similarly deals with personal issues on a case-by-case basis. That involves making sure the partner or employee gets the leave they need, and from a business perspective, the firm ensures clients are taken care of and work is spread out among other lawyers.

In one recent example, Taylor said, an attorney's wife passed away unexpectedly, leaving three children in their early teens.

“The people in that office in that person's practice, they rallied around, they took care of the work,” he said. And the support went beyond work-related concerns, he added—many people also contributed gift cards to restaurants to help the attorney get through that time more easily.

Taylor said Locke Lord maintained the lawyer's compensation level for a year with no penalty because his life had been turned upside down. The lawyer took off about six weeks, but is back to work, although with more obligations at home than before, he said.

Natural disasters also can create stressful situations. Taylor said in 2017, eight lawyers and staff in the firm's Houston office were flooded out by Hurricane Harvey, and they were given time off to deal with the emergency.

Butler Snow dealt with a similar situation in 2018, when Hurricane Florence hit Wilmington, North Carolina, and one of the firm's professionals literally had to kayak from his home to escape floodwaters. “Because of that, he couldn't service clients on a day-to-day basis. Other lawyers stepped up,” said Rance Sapen, Butler Snow's chief operating officer.

The firm also made sure everyone in that office had what they needed to get through a time when local stores were damaged by the hurricane.  Also, he said, “We continued to pay them because that was the right thing to do.”

Sapen said Butler Snow has a traditional employee assistance program, and is focused on shaping a culture that will reduce stress. For instance, he said, the firm offers sabbaticals to partners, a concierge program for handling personal needs and flexible scheduling arrangements “because life happens.”

“We think our culture is a tool to help us,” he said.

Read more – Minds Over Matters: An Examination of Mental Health in the Legal Profession