Our society's mental illness crisis does not exist in a vacuum, but is inextricably interwoven with the issues of racism, social equity, and the law. It is a crisis that largely impacts representation of clients and the legal system as a whole. There are too many instances where clients suffering from diagnosed or undiagnosed mental illness are left homeless, injured or incarcerated instead of hospitalized and treated. The idea that a person needs to be in crisis before becoming eligible to receive treatment is a paradox that lawyers representing the mentally ill so often face.