Brian L. Tannebaum, Special Counsel with Bast Amron in Miami.

I read with interest Joe Ankus' important article on lawyers and mental health where he tells the story of the seemingly happy and relaxed lunch delivery guy, bringing him his sandwich while he toiled away at his Big Law associate desk.

As I read it, I noticed something absent—a discussion of what the profession can do to reduce the stress that induces mental issues.

Ankus' thoughts deserve serious consideration, but in addition to discussing what the profession can do to help lawyers with mental problems, we need to ask what the profession can do to change the culture, and behavior that causes stress-induced mental issues.

That wasn't the focus of Ankus' article, and awareness of resources for lawyers is important—but we need to do something on the front end about this epidemic in our profession.

This isn't solely a “lawyer” problem, it's a profession problem.

Let's be honest, any profession has undiagnosed mental illness among its ranks, but it's time to recognize that a lawyer's mental state is affected not just by a medical condition, but by the environment of the profession. We don't simply have an explosion of mental illness, we have an explosion of conduct that creates stress-induced mental issues.

And in addition to discussing what we can do to treat these issues, we need to go further and ask: what are we collectively—lawyers, judges and the bar—doing to relieve stress among our ranks? Providing treatment and advocating for awareness is only the second part of the equation and it won't resolve the problem, if that's even possible.

We, as a profession, can't just claim to be the white knight, when what we're doing is offering to help a bad situation to which we contributed.

Why is the lunch delivery guy so relaxed and happy, while lawyers are so miserable and on the verge of—or already—addicted to alcohol or drugs, or worse, contemplating or committing suicide?

It's not just that his job doesn't involve representing people in stressful litigation. Here are four reasons why he's much happier at his job.

• His business has hours.

A restaurant opens and closes at a certain time, and if one calls before or after hours, no one will answer, or return an email, or get up from the dinner table to argue about an extension of time.

• His life has a schedule.

He works his hours and when he's not there, he's not working. He's not at home on his laptop while his kids are talking about their day at school or at dinner with his phone next to his plate. When he walks out the door at closing time, no one says “wait, we need you to stay a few more hours, cancel that dinner/event/vacation/family milestone.”

• He actually goes on vacation.

While on vacation, he doesn't have one eye on his phone, waiting for the next person to email him and demand an unreasonable response time. He leaves his phone in the hotel room when he goes down to the beach, because things can wait.

• He works, and then doesn't.

No one is filing something for him to read at 10 p.m., or sending a “placeholder” email at 7:45 a.m. for him to see before his day begins.

And there's many more reasons the lunch delivery guy and many other people outside the profession of law are happier.

We as a profession continue to eat our own. We lie about our colleagues to get a case, we pounce at any notion that an ethics rule was possibly violated, and we spend our days trying to keep up with the immediacy that comes with e-filing and electronic everything. We no longer send a letter requesting a response in two weeks. We send an email at 9:30 a.m. demanding a response by 2 p.m. that afternoon, not caring if the lawyer has anything else to do that day. We object for clients when we know that we shouldn't, and we view family obligations, and the need for time, as a weakness.

And I know, the lunch delivery guy doesn't make six figures, he doesn't go to Europe for 10 days, his kids aren't in private school, he doesn't drive a luxury car. But when did we—all of us in this profession—decide to give our profession to the gods of technology? When did “available 24/7” become something expected of us? When did everything start needing to be done “today,” and when did we decide that technology is for us to own people in the sense that whether they're in another country, or in an audience at a school play, or simply taking a day off—they can and will be reached, and will respond?

We are practicing ourselves into stress levels that are unmanageable—and we are all to blame.

Let me go further. Why are we making life more difficult for lawyers? Why do we need more local rules, policies, and procedures that place undue burdens on lawyers?

I understand the concept of “the clients come first,” but it seems that today, clients come first, second and third—before family, health and mental well-being.

I get that we have client demands, I get we are in more competition with more lawyers than we've ever been. I get the need to “get the case,” but at what cost?

So what can we do as a profession—before someone needs treatment—to stem the tide of increased stress?

• But for an emergency, does the e-filing portal need to be available for filing 24 hours a day, seven days a week?
• Just because we are able to be reached 24/7, should we?
• If banks are required to report every NSF charge from a lawyer's trust account to the bar, which automatically initiates a letter from the bar, can we have the banks be required to notify the bar if the NSF issue is due to a bank mistake, or fraud, prior to initiating an inquiry from the bar to the lawyer?
• We don't want people to fear filing bar complaints, but complaints must be sworn. Is it time for the bar to take a stand against people who falsely accuse lawyers of misconduct, something that can send a lawyer into a tailspin?
• Should the requirement to amend local rules or rules of procedure be that it must not put any additional burden on a lawyer?

Look askance at some of these ideas, but consider that offering to “help” is only part of the equation, and there are ways we can help our community of fellow professionals to solve the problem for many before they are beaten down to the point where they manifest mental issues and need treatment.

Awareness and treatment doesn't address what we as a profession can do to try and reduce the elements in our environment that cause the stress that leads to the mental breakdowns of lawyers.

I don't have all the answers, but in that lunch delivery guy, lie some good ones.

Brian L. Tannebaum has been a member of the Florida Bar since 1995 and represents lawyers and law firms in ethics matters. He is chair of the ethics, professional responsibility, and white collar defense group at Bast Amron in Miami.