
This site is made possible by a grant from the New York Lawyers Assistance Trust. Click here to find out more about the Trust.
 You are not alone. The scope of depression in our world and this country. Read more
WHY I CREATED THIS SITE
Depression is often a very isolating experience - - even when the depressed person has a supportive and loving group of people to rely on.
In my own life, I often found relief in reading books about depression, spirituality or health and trying to relate the wisdom in those books to my own life as a lawyer.
When I searched on-line for materials to read that would support me in my attempt to cope with depression and my law practice, what I found was sometimes helpful, but in the end, not sufficient.
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LWD IN THE NEWS UB Law Alumni Association Honors LWD Founder Dan Lukasik
The State University of New York at Buffalo Law School recently held their 46th Annual Dinner of the UB law Association where they honored five members with the Distinguished Almni Award including LWD founder Dan Lukasik. Read the story
LWD Creator Dan Lukasik Shares His Struggle With The Buffalo News
This editorial from lawyerswithdepression.com creator Dan Lukasik appeared in a recent issue of the Buffalo News. Read the story LWD In Plaintiff Magazine
This story from Plaintiff Magazine discusses the effects of depression on the legal world profile lawyerswithdepression.com and creator Dan Lukasik. Read the story The Law's Occupational Hazard
Lawyerswithdepression.com founder Dan Lukasik authored this article for thecompletelawyer.com entitled Depression Is The Law's Occupational Hazard. Read the story
Seminar Receives Praise
The successful Erie County Bar Association seminar, Effective Lawyering: Dealing with the Stresses and Strains of Today's Law Practice, spearheaded by lawyerswithdepression.com creator Dan Lukasik is profiled in this piece from The Daily Record. Read the story
Struggling Against Sadness
This article from the American Bar Association profiles lawyerswithdepression.com, highlighting the sites many features and accompanying efforts to reach out to the legal community. Read the story Law School Honors Grads
From the Buffalo Law Journal, the state University of New York at Buffalo Law School honors five grads and the newly appointed Dean with the Distinguished Alumni award including lawyerswithdepression.com creator Dan Lukasik. Read the story
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Lawyers, judges and law students with depression may turn to the professional staff at the NYSBA's Lawyer Assistance Program at (800) 255-0569 and the NYCBA's Lawyer Assistance Program at (212) 302-5787 to receive assessments, referrals and compassionate peer support. All calls are completely confidential. Hope lies in asking for help and getting treatment and support. If you live or work outside of NYS, you make contact the ABA's Commission on LAP's at (800) 238-2667 x5359 or by clicking here for the resources in your area.
FEATURED ARTICLES
Routes To Depression
Thomas Moore's bestselling books have also provided an adventuresome map of everyday spirituality. Moore was a monk in a Catholic religious order for 12 years and then practiced psychotherapy. He is a Renaissance man whose works are filled with illustrative material from mythology, psychology, philosophy and contemporary spirituality. He has taken the pulse of the times and come to the conclusion that "loss of soul" is the cause of the restlessness, addiction, insecurity and frustration of so many men and women. His latest book is A Life At Work.
It is common to think of depression as one, large, overwhelming fog that descends on you from nowhere. I prefer to imagine many kinds of depression, taking several different shapes, and coming from specific sources. There are the blues, as we know—indigo moods. There are also black depressions, yellow depressions and sometimes white-outs.
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High Achievers Suffer From Depression Rachel Long, M.S.W., L.C.S.W., Esq., has a Masters degree in Social Work from New York University and has been practicing as a therapist for over 12 years(www.rlongcounseling.com). In addition to her private practice as a therapist she also teaches Sociology part-time at Bergen Community College and graduated from Rutgers University Law School in 2002. Ms. Long maintains a small legal practice in Bergen County New Jersey as well (www.RachelLongLaw.com).
If one were to examine the characteristics of various professionals, you would likely notice a pattern wherein each profession tended to attract people with similar characteristics and the legal profession is no different. It would seem even someone who wasn’t a lawyer might notice that the legal profession tends to attract people who are achievement oriented and driven towards success. While these characteristics can often be viewed as positive, the individual who needs to fulfill the drive for achievement and success can also suffer from difficulties such as depression when they feel they can’t meet their own expectations. Read more
"Get A Life!": Searching For Fulfillment In The Practice Of Law
Carl Horn III has served as a U.S. Magistrate Judge for the Western District of North Carolina since 1993. A former Chief Assistant U.S. Attorney (1987 - 1993), Judge Horn spent the first eleven years after law school graduation in private practice and as counsel to two national non-profit organizations. He is the author of numerous books and articles, including the Fourth Circuit Criminal Handbook, now in its 10th edition, and is a frequent speaker at CLE and other bar-related functions. His latest book is LawyerLife: Balancing Life and a Career in Law.
As many visiting this website know, the study and public discussion of lawyers suffering from depression is a relatively recent phenomenon. I do not recall hearing a word about it – or, for that matter, about related topics such as work/life balance or alcohol and substance abuse – during my law school years (1973-76). In fact, it was well into the 1980s before troubling trends in the legal profession generally, or the decline in quality of the professional lives of individual practitioners, began to be addressed in any significant way. Read more
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