Ian Turvill was chief marketing officer at Chicago-based Freeborn & Peters in 2017 when he died by suicide in his home in Evanston, Illinois.

The circumstances of his death echoed that of law firm partners who recently ended their own lives. He was under immense pressure to meet deadlines. He worried that any failure would mean losing his job. He had long struggled with depression and anxiety, yet he hid it at work, and his death came as a surprise to everyone except his wife, Marny Turvill.

"He was terrified what would happen if anybody knew he was sick or struggling in any way," said Dr. Marny Turvill, Ian's wife and founder of Outside the Pill Box, a holistic medical practice. "If you show vulnerability it's the kiss of death. You'll be overlooked for projects or promotions. If people have any doubt that you would perform at the highest level you won't be trusted."

Two weeks ago—less than two years after Ian Turvill took his life—Doug Johnson, a legal consultant in Denver who previously was chief strategy officer at Drinker Biddle & Reath and who did work for Holland & Hart, also died by suicide. While separated by geography and time, both these deaths demonstrate that law firm professional staff can also succumb to the same pressures and stress that afflict their attorney colleagues.

But even as mental health takes a front seat in law firms, bar associations and conferences, many professional staff—whether in legal operations, pricing or marketing—see the effort largely focused on attorneys. There are few, if any, studies that examine the rates of depression, anxiety, addiction or suicide among law firm professional staff.

And despite the plethora of resources available at several large firms today, including on-site mental health professionals and wellness applications, many have not extended their mental health resources firmwide. A survey of 30 Am Law firms found that 36% of firms that say they offer mental health programming do not extend those programs to their professional staff.

This bifurcated mental health treatment is actually symptomatic of one of the most acute stress factors afflicting law firm professionals: a power hierarchy that devalues professional staff.

Many describe law firms as extremely hierarchical, dominated by rainmaking partners who often lack any formal leadership or management training. Those who don't hold law degrees but nonetheless contribute to the success of the firm are often dubbed a "nonlawyer," a moniker that comes with second-class status and exacerbates the stress many professionals already face.

Mark Greene, president of consulting firm Market Intelligence and interim CMO of Munger, Tolles & Olson, said that while most corporations and industries give professional staff a seat at the leadership table, law firms rarely do.

"The fact that almost no law firms do is indicative of the degree to which we're somewhat marginalized and that puts pressure and [shows a] lack of respect and appreciation of us as professionals," he said.

Deborah Farone, founder of Farone Advisors and former CMO at Cravath, Swaine & Moore and Debevoise & Plimpton, said that although law firm professionals believe in their firm and the work they do, the feeling of otherness can be isolating.

"If you feel that you're being told you're a nonlawyer or non-something, it's very disconcerting having that dissonance between what you're being called and what your responsibilities are," she said.

Structural problems within the profession manifest themselves in other ways, too. Many professional staff tell stories of being screamed at by a senior partner who never faces repercussions, of juggling several disparate tasks from a wide range of attorneys and even other departments.

"I think the No. 1 reason my staff when I was CMO experienced stress is because they felt like they had to serve every partner, every lawyer, every other department as their client. And everything was urgent; everything was important," said Mark Beese, founder of the legal consulting firm Leadership for Lawyers.

"You never went home with the feeling that you've done your job—that you've satisfied all of your clients," he continued. "You always went home leaving something on the table or not doing something to the level of perfection that's expected."

Since many of the exacerbating factors stem from the organizational structure and culture of law firms, many say the solutions lie in addressing the structure itself.

Greene said that firms should treat their C-suite executives as contributors to the business of the firm and empower them to watch and protect their own staff. Beese added that firms should reexamine their mission statement and culture. Several professionals agreed that professional staff should join a trade organization such as the Legal Marketing Association to combat isolation.

And because a heightened concern for attorney mental health has already brought in a slew of new programs and resources, many say that simply extending those mental health resources to all law firm staff could go a long way.

"There has to be parity in what's offered," Farone said. "We should ensure that whatever we're extending to the lawyers we're extending to the professional staff."

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