Photo: Jason Doiy/ALM

In an expansion of its mental health initiatives, Cooley announced a new partnership Thursday  to provide holistic, personalized mental health resources to its attorneys and staff.

The firm has entered a partnership with Modern Health to provide attorneys and staff with personalized mental and emotional support at no cost, Cooley said. The initiative is an addition to b.well@cooley, the firm's program addressing mental and emotional health and well-being at the firm.

Modern Health is a digital platform that provides workplaces with customized mental health and well-being programming for its workforce. At Cooley, program participants will be matched with a coach and provided with personalized resources, including certified coaches, licensed therapists, self assessments, digital programs and audio therapy, all through a smartphone app.

Cooley's move comes amid a broader effort among major law firms to confront mental health issues and overcome taboos about seeking treatment in the legal profession, which struggles with high rates of stress, substance abuse, suicide and other challenges.

Colleen Gillis, a Washington, D.C., partner and co-chair of Cooley's mental health and wellness committee, said the initiative, which was rolled out to all attorneys and staff earlier this month, has been met with positive feedback because it allows participants to seek mental health resources at a time most convenient for them.

"No one has to wait to be trained to deal with stress and anxiety—they can go right to the app," she said, noting there were different programs to learn about managing stress, meditation, mindfulness and promoting better sleep. "This is allowing for real life, real time access to those support tools that doesn't have to necessarily follow the schedule of the mental health and wellness committee."

The partnership with Modern Health is only the latest b.well@cooley initiative: The firm has taken multiple steps to affirm its commitment to mental and emotional health of its staff. Cooley said it has also been de-emphasizing alcohol—removing champagne flutes and martini glasses when promoting events—and facilitating mindfulness training by providing attorneys with six-month subscriptions to a meditation app.

Gillins says b.well@cooley has always done a good job of promoting good physical health practices, but it's really in the last year that the firm has doubled down on its efforts to promote mental health and wellness, too.

"We're trying to focus on recognizing that to operate at this level of performance in the legal profession is similar to the level of performance for professional athletes in the Super Bowl," she said. "They don't achieve their greatness and record success by focusing just on their sport—they're also training for focus, staying calm, managing stress and optimizing recovery."

"We're really focusing on bringing that paradigm to every corner of Cooley," she said.

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