2023 Mental Health Forum
Improving mental health for legal professionals in BC is a key priority for the Law Society. This year, in partnership with the Continuing Legal Education Society of BC, we will be hosting a two-part Mental Health Forum on June 23 and October 3, 2023. The virtual events will feature impactful speakers, practical strategies and advice for advancing mental health within the legal profession. Register for the June 23 event here.
National survey on health and well-being of legal professionals
In late 2022, the Université de Sherbrooke, the Federation of Law Societies of Canada and the Canadian Bar Association released a report on the psychological health determinants of legal professionals in Canada. The report highlights the prevalence of mental health concerns and substance use issues among the legal profession, and showcases the need for more support and resources for those facing these challenges.
A list of recommendations released in December 2022 highlights 10 key areas of focus, including increasing education, resources, diversity, and work-life balance.
The report can be read here and the recommendations can be found here.
The findings of the report are serious and reinforce the importance of the Law Society’s commitment to improve education and support a culture shift in how the profession approaches mental health and substance use issues.
As a regulator, the Law Society has vowed to identify ways to reduce stigma, and to review its discipline and admissions processes to consider how best to deal with mental health and substance use issues. Our Mental Health Task Force has been working to identify ways to reduce the stigma of mental health issues and create an Alternative Discipline Plan for those lawyers it would help. The task force will be considering the recommendations from the report and providing recommendations to the Benchers in 2023.
Alternative discipline process to address mental health challenges
The Benchers adopted a recommendation of the Mental Health Task Force calling for the creation of an alternative discipline process to address circumstances in which there is a connection between a health condition and a conduct issue that has resulted in a complaint investigation.
The Alternative Discipline Process has launched and will be piloted over three years. At the conclusion of the pilot, the Benchers will make a final determination as to whether to establish it as a permanent regulatory program.
2021 Mental Health Forum
More than 600 participants gathered virtually for a Mental Health Forum hosted by the Law Society and the Continuing Legal Education Society of BC on September 14, 2021 to listen to experts share practical strategies and advice for advancing mental health within the legal profession.
Recordings of the forum sessions are available on CLEBC’s website.