The American Bar Association’s (ABA) pro bono project enjoyed the most volunteer participation ever in 2021, with more than 140 attorneys handling at least 50 legal inquiries last year.

The online program, ABA Free Legal Answers, includes participation from more than 10,000 U.S. lawyers in 45 states, according to information from the trade group. The web-based ask-and-answer service is aimed at helping income-eligible residents get legal assistance from volunteer attorneys.

“For those who cannot afford an attorney and have nowhere else to turn, ABA Free Legal Answers serves as a critical resource,” said ABA President Reginald Turner in a statement. “We are proud of the more than 10,000 volunteer lawyers nationwide who are helping to meet these important legal needs, and particularly pleased about the efforts of our FLA Pro Bono Leaders. We urge other attorneys to step up and assist as well.”

Recently, the ABA recognized the most prolific volunteer attorneys with the publication of its 2021 Pro Bono Leaders list. Texas led the pack with 14 individuals, organizations, schools or law firms answering more than 50 inquiries. Illinois, though, was a close second with 13 such entities qualifying for recognition.

“ABA Free Legal Answers offers a flexible online platform, even in pandemic conditions, to do this important pro bono work from our offices, homes, makeshift workstations at the courthouse and on our own time,” said attorney Brandon A. Robinson. “Participating on the platform with hundreds of North Carolinians has been one of my daily joys during the COVID-19 pandemic.”

From Twitter

Ukraine Advice Project UK @ukraine_advice Mar 11

"IMPORTANT UPDATE Since the project began on Monday 28 February, the response from the profession has been humbling, and somewhat overwhelming. The project has registered over 430 volunteer lawyers to date and given pro bono advice on almost 700 requests."

According to the ABA, the program has helped answer close to 200,000 inquiries and has doubled in volume over the last two years.

Earlier this year, The Association of Pro Bono Counsel put out a report detailing the impact the COVID-19 pandemic had on the pro bono service industry, and highlighted some of the ways to retain best practices moving forward. The report “Positive Change: How the Pandemic Changed Pro Bono and What We Should Keep,” includes analysis from the legal services community, non-profit legal advocates and experts in the field, according to the Counsel. “We hope it will spark thoughtful discussion about how we pro bono volunteers, legal services organizations, bar associations and the courts can continue to expand access to justice for all members of our communities,” reads information from the group.

According to the report, the Counsel recommends legal service providers offer things like virtual clinics, online platforms, in-person meetings when technological resources are unavailable, technological resources for volunteers and e-filing, among other things.

“This final report documents changes to the delivery of pro bono legal services during the pandemic, with the focus primarily on how the adjustments to intake, representation and advocacy impacted clients,” notes the report. “Our hope is that documenting and sharing these experiences and practices will inspire those responsible for delivering pro bono legal services… and those responsible for the systems with which pro bono client communities interact … to consider keeping the changes that benefited client communities, and to continue to develop accessible, client-centered systems that deliver just outcomes.”

Document automation means creating automated templates, using software, for legal documents (such as contracts).

Once the templates are created, users of the software usually answer questionnaires. Once it has this information, the software can instantly generate the contract, and you’re done.

The purpose is to automate the repetitive process of building a document from scratch each time you need a new contract.

In practice, many contracts are extremely similar, with just a few variations. So, for example, once you create an NDA template, the next time you need an NDA, you can generate the template much more quickly using the questionnaire.

By clicking Download, you are agreeing to receive emails about Thomson Reuters Legal products or services that may interest you.

As a lawyer, you might not think of your work as “creative.”

True, on your off time, you might pursue creative endeavors such as writing, cooking, painting, or practicing a musical instrument. But the practice of law requires a rigorously analytic mindset that relies on precise, predictable processes and precedents.

From a professional standpoint, you probably relegate “creativity” to realms like advertising and product design.

But take a closer look at what you do, and you’ll see that you’re often called upon to come up with solutions that aren’t necessarily found in case law and legal textbooks.

During a difficult negotiation you’re handling for a business client, say, or in researching a legal problem that seems to have no obvious precedents, you may have suddenly come upon the solution while reading a book on a different topic, or while mulling over the matter during a long walk.

By clicking Download, you are agreeing to receive emails about Thomson Reuters Legal products or services that may interest you.

There’s no question about it, content marketing is today’s marketing. It’s what everyone in the marketing world is talking about and has been talking about for the last couple of years.

And with good reason: within one broad banner, content marketing encompasses almost every aspect of marketing, client engagement and brand promotion.

It makes sense, then, that content marketing has been touted as the “must have” strategy for businesses, and many have jumped on board the content marketing train.

According to Hubspot, content marketing generates three times as many leads as traditional marketing but costs 62% less. Furthermore, companies that publish at least 16 blog posts per month average 3.5 times more traffic than those that post four or fewer.

By clicking Download, you are agreeing to receive emails about Thomson Reuters Legal products or services that may interest you.

General Electric's general counsel's 2012 compensation package afforded him almost $11 million in cash, making him the highest paid general counsel on Corporate Counsel magazine's latest list of the nation's 100 highest paid GCs. So reports Law.com.

At $1,853,671, the average take-home pay enjoyed by the lawyers on the list this year is the highest it has ever been.

Read the full article from Law.com here.

After entering a guilty plea, John Farahi, founder of Newpoint Financial Services Inc., was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison on March 20, according to a National Law Journal story. The Beverly Hills businessman admitted his role in a $20 million Ponzi scheme and the plea could have ramifications for former Nixon Peabody securities partner David Tamman, who was found guilty for his role in the scheme.

Tamman’s lawyer, though, insists the two instances are different and “suspect the judge will listen to what we have to say and make a decision accordingly."

Read the full article from the National Law Journal here.

A Los Angeles nutrition company is locked in a legal battle with billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman, who has accused the company of perpetuating a pyramid scheme. Herbalife officials said the company will up their legal defense costs from $25 million to $40 million in the wake of Ackman’s accusations, according to a Los Angeles Times article.

Ackman, who reportedly bet $1 billion the company is a sham, has said most of the company’s sales people lose money and expects the company’s shares to fall to zero.

Read the full article from the Los Angeles Times here.

Food and Drug Administration logo (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

When attorney F. Lee Bailey was indicted for mail fraud in 1973, he quoted a popular aphorism referencing the difference between how England and the U.S. treat their criminal defense lawyers.  “In England they are apt to be knighted; in the United States they are apt to be indicted.”  There is quite a bit of truth in the saying and the dangers inherent in practicing law in the U.S. are not only faced by defense lawyers.  Sensing an opportunity, the Department of Justice (DOJ) has recently set its sights on corporate in-house counsel.

In November, 2010, Lauren Stevens, a former vice president and general counsel for pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline, was indicted on federal charges of making false statements and obstructing a federal investigation.  Stevens was accused of making false and misleading statements in a series of letters to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on behalf of her employer.  Despite it having been obvious from the beginning that Stevens was only relaying information furnished by her client and had no intent or motive to mislead federal investigators, she was enthusiastically pursued by the DOJ.  “Where facts and law allow, the Justice Department will pursue individuals responsible for illegal conduct just as vigorously as we pursue corporations,” Tony West, assistant attorney general for the civil division, said in a statement.  It should be noted that despite the DOJ’s stated commitment to pursue corporations, GlaxoSmithKline’s name was noticeably absent from the Stevens indictment.  West continued, “Criminal charges are appropriate when false statements such as those alleged here are made to the FDA.”

Read the full article here...

The practical applications of advanced artificial intelligences (AI) are virtually endless, and educators, scholars, lawmakers and even theists are facing an expansive list of questions and concerns around the ethics and legalities of its wide scale implementation.

In recent weeks, there have been a number of high-profile examples of how OpenAI’s nascent chatbot, the Generative Pre-Trained Transformer known as ChatGPT, may push the boundaries of nearly every established element of the legal space. In addition to taking and passing a law exam, the technology’s applications span everything from e-discovery to trial law and more and are being thoroughly examined by public and private pundits from every corner of the legal industry. In Massachusetts, state Sen. Barry Finegold cleverly introduced legislation to govern the impressive technology drafted by the tech itself.

From Twitter

Barry Finegold @Barry_Finegold· Jan 26

"Thanks for the assist, @OpenAI! For the full text of my legislation (An Act drafted with the help of ChatGPT to regulate generative artificial intelligence models like ChatGPT), please visit: https://malegislature.gov/Bills/193/SD1827…. #mapoli #ChatGPT 1/7 https://twitter.com/i/status/1618742425232740352"

As is often the case, legislative frameworks are forced to adapt to rapidly changing technologies. Now, it seems this process may need to be accelerated as AI is already aggressively being integrated into the status quo. Another example of this is the recent announcement from Ironclad, a digital contracting platform, that it will be using OpenAI technology to complement its existing services.

“There has been a ‘race for novelty’ in our industry, but Ironclad has always prioritized investing in technology that drives impact and real business results for our customers. After testing GPT3 within Ironclad for several months, it’s clear that this is much more than novelty; it’s a groundbreaking innovation,” according to the platform. “In that spirit, we have been working with OpenAI to put the power of GPT3 to work across our product.”

According to the announcement, that product, which will be called “AI Assist,” is in beta testing. “… AI Assist lets users instantly generate redlines to an entire document. Those redlines–made using generative AI–appear as tracked changes, which allow human users to quickly scan and accept, or reject, those redlines in just a single click,” according to the product description.

The White House also weighed in on the subject with its recent release of the National Artificial Intelligence Research Resource (NAIRR) Task Force report.

The report represents the federal government’s efforts to create a roadmap for how to address the many pressing issues related to artificial intelligence and develop a way to ensure adequate access to the necessary resources needed by those working on its research and development. “AI advances hold tremendous promise for tackling our hardest problems and achieving our greatest aspirations,” said Arati Prabhakar, the policy director for the Office of Science and Technology. “We will only realize this potential when many more kinds of researchers have access to the powerful capabilities that underpin AI advances.”

According to the White House, the NAIRR Task Force was established in the National AI Initiative Act of 2020 and is co-chaired by the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) and the National Science Foundation. It features representation from private entities, academia and the public sector. “OSTP’s work on AI, including the development of an updated National AI R&D Strategic Plan and the Blueprint for an AI Bill of Rights, is intended to maximize its benefits, while ensuring that AI-driven systems do not harm Americans’ rights or freedoms,” said Deputy Assistant to the President and Principal Deputy U.S. Chief Technology Officer Alexander Macgillivray.

Read the AI Bill of Rights here. 

The American Bar Association has begun the piecemeal release of its ABA TechReport 2021, which takes a comprehensive look into how lawyers use technology in their everyday practices.

The first segment of the report was released on Wednesday, Nov. 10. In total, the publication will provide observation, analysis and predictions on a number of topics from leaders in the legal tech space, according to the trade association.

The report will be separated into eight different segments with the first portion of the report focusing on cloud computing. One area of particular note is with respect to data protection while engaging with the cloud.

“The 2021 Survey highlights a major concern that, while lawyers talk the talk about security concerns in cloud computing, to a shocking degree they do not walk the walk,” reads the report. “The poor results in the cybersecurity category should be a major concern for the legal profession. If you take only one thing from this TechReport to add to your 2021 technology agenda, it should be to up your game on cloud security, for your sake and, even more so, for the sake of your clients.” 

From Twitter

Digital Legal Lab @SectorplanDLS Nov 6

"There’s still time to submit your abstract for Digital Legal Talks 2021! We welcome published & unpublished work on law & digital technologies from interdisciplinary perspectives. More info & get involved here https://sectorplandls.nl/wordpress/digital-legal-talks-2021/"

Among some of the other topics covered in the report, which was compiled by the ABA Legal Technology Resource Center, include the impact of COVID-19, budget allocations and employee wellness.

For example, according to information in the survey, 26% of respondents reported a decrease in access to print materials as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. This decrease was most obvious in firms of 100 or more, as 44% of attorneys in those firms reported a decline in access to print materials. Only 4% of those asked reported an increase in access to print materials, notes the tech resource center.

Further, the report also indicates law firms have increased their attentiveness to technology, and as such are budgeting for it at a higher clip than ever. The report points out 65% of firms are now setting aside funding for technology, while that number was only 62% in 2020, 60% the year before and even lower in 2018. As has been the case traditionally, larger firms tend to be more inclined to budget for technological changes than smaller ones.

According to analysis from technology consulting and research firm Gartner, in-house legal departments have been hesitant to shift toward new technological paradigms like automation, but COVID-19 might have accelerated the need to adopt such changes.

“The new pressures brought about by the coronavirus pandemic certainly have acted as a catalyst for this shift,” said Zack Hutto, a director at Gartner. “Legal and compliance teams have rarely been frontrunners to modernize, digitalize and automate. The pandemic has flattened staffing budgets and increased legal workloads; technology is the most obvious solution for many legal departments.”

From Twitter

MarkUpgrade @markupgrade
"With the pandemic legal companies are seeking more innovation to enhance efficiency and decrease costs, hence turning to technology. Check out the #naming choices of the top players in the #legaltech sector
https://t.co/Xg4fEzAPWL?amp=1"

According to information from the ABA, the remaining segments of the report will be posted on Wednesdays through Dec. 29. The other topics are as follows:

• “Websites & Marketing”
• “Practice Management”
• “Budgeting & Planning”
• “Technology Training”
• “Solo & Small Firm”
• “Cybersecurity”
• “Life & Practice”

There’s no better time than now to sit down and plan for success. Law firms like yours need actionable steps and clear attainable business goals to achieve success and facilitate the growth of your business. 

Download FindLaw’s 2022 Law Firm Business planner today, in digital format.

Established in 2011 with seven staff, California-based employment law firm LightGabler has always been a very “tech-forward” firm — in fact, it has operated entirely paperless since its first day in operation. Today, it has 17 attorneys and a total team of 26 providing day-to-day employment advice and complex litigation counsel (in both federal and state courts) to businesses of all sizes and in all sectors. Since the firm’s inception it has been using ProLaw®, the comprehensive business management solution from Thomson Reuters, hosting it in the cloud.

LightGabler’s founders were already familiar with ProLaw, having used it successfully at the large firm where they previously worked. Running on relatively lean staff numbers, it was important to implement one solution that LightGabler could use for all of its practice management and matter management needs, including billing, timekeeping, accounting, reporting, contacts management, conflicts checks, and document control.

"I wanted a practice management program that can do it all, and I think ProLaw is the leader in that regard"

Jody Toerner, Executive Director

“ProLaw is an all-inclusive option and that’s key for us,” says LightGabler’s Executive Director Jody Toerner, who is responsible for all of the firm’s IT and accounting as well as its general operations. “Whereas some firms are running several different programs at once for different things, we have everything in one place, making it easy to use and saving us time. We don’t need anything else.”

For example, LightGabler uses ProLaw to create a database of contacts that can be seamlessly linked into client matters. It uses it as a virtual filing cabinet for client documents and emails — which is fully searchable — and as a repository for master documents. All pre-bills are edited and invoices tracked through ProLaw. Timekeeping reports can be run, detailing billable time and expenses. Accounting reports are converted into PDF format for review or into Microsoft® Excel® spreadsheets for data manipulation. The firm even cuts all of its checks through ProLaw.

The importance of interconnectivity

Toerner appreciates this wide scope of features and functionality, but just as importantly, she likes how interconnected the different parts of the system are and how they work together as a whole.

“ProLaw has a ton of bells and whistles, and even as an extensive ProLaw user myself, there’s still more to learn,” says Toerner. “That said, it’s so easy and efficient to maneuver around. One of the best things is the ability to “hot-key” directly into specific areas, without having to continually open new windows. So, if I’m in a matter and I want to know what a client owes us, I can just hit the ledger button and see the information instantly. Or a user can hit the timekeeping button and enter billable time from wherever they are in the system or in email. That’s genius.”

The integration between ProLaw and Microsoft Outlook® is one Toerner says is particularly valuable. She explains that attorneys like the ability to save emails into ProLaw, creating real-time visibility on matter status within the system, all the while enabling emails to stay “live” in Outlook so that those conversations with clients and contacts remain open.

With so much functionality available, it’s useful to be able to customize what options are available to users in ProLaw. For instance, LightGabler finds it helpful to minimize the list of fields that attorneys can choose from when managing their matters, so they are only viewing the ones they may need. The firm also implements customized settings around who can access its accounting data for security reasons. Toerner makes the point that it is possible to experiment with customization without fear of inadvertently causing problems that could impair the smooth running of the system.

"Being able to access such a comprehensive system from anywhere, on any device, is a huge benefit."

Jody Toerner

Talking in the cloud

Interconnectivity and integration also matter greatly when it comes to operating ProLaw in the cloud. Streamlined, remote accessibility allows attorneys to view documents and work on matters in ProLaw from anywhere, at any time, from any device. This “talking in the cloud,” as Toerner calls it, had always mattered to LightGabler, but it took on new meaning when the coronavirus pandemic hit, forcing firms to shift to remote working. Having ProLaw in the cloud meant that LightGabler was well positioned when this happened: its attorneys were already working this way; now paralegals and support staff also started to access ProLaw remotely.

“We’ve been very busy since the start of COVID-19, but we’ve had no downtime at all in terms of our ability to provide services to clients, because we had ProLaw set up in the cloud,” says Toerner. “I know that some other firms that hadn’t taken the leap into the cloud have really struggled.”

When the firm moved its cloud hosting provision to LevelCloud, with whom ProLaw has partnered since 2019, Toerner describes this as a game-changing moment. Its seamless integration with ProLaw was the main motivation for LightGabler to move from its previous cloud-hosting provider to LevelCloud. “I was thrilled when ProLaw opened the gates to LevelCloud to enable their servers to work together. We switched to LevelCloud and haven’t looked back,” she says.

Another reason for LightGabler’s choice of LevelCloud was that it wanted a private cloud-hosting solution, rather than being on a shared server with other firms. Toerner feels totally secure with having all of the firm’s files in the cloud. She notes that other firms are likely to have to follow suit sooner or later, given that “this is the way the world is moving.”

As proof of the power of such a shift, Toerner points out that her firm comprises users aged between 25 and 81 — and that the eldest is one of the solution’s biggest proponents. “Younger staff are great at coming up with ideas and questions about what ProLaw can do, and our 81-year-old attorney raves about it,” says Toerner. She understands technology can sometimes be a source of frustration in law firms if it fails to help attorneys operate more efficiently and effectively, but Toerner has no such concerns here. Overall, users seem very satisfied with ProLaw being hosted in LevelCloud.

Cost-effective systems and support

Having ProLaw hosted in the cloud removes the need for costly in-house servers or IT support, saving the firm tens of thousands of dollars per year. “When you map out all the costs involved in having local servers and IT support — and in running a variety of programs for different needs, like timekeeping and contacts management — there are huge cost savings to be made from having one externally maintained, all-inclusive program and one vendor,” says Toerner. ProLaw does all the software updates and maintenance and Toerner has one direct contact at LevelCloud who liaises with ProLaw to troubleshoot any back-end issues that arise.

That takes a huge amount of pressure off Toerner personally in terms of ensuring the firm’s critical technologies are well supported. As well as saving on costs and complexity, using an external hosting provider means that, rather than just having one internal member of support staff available to help a large group of users, the firm can have several specialists advising individuals all at the same time.

Training is relatively straightforward and is conducted internally by Toerner herself, who estimates that most people become fully comfortable with using it within a month. “It’s easy to teach people how to use ProLaw, and once they get going, they’re fine,” she says. “Most people wouldn’t want to go back to a paper-based system, and I certainly wouldn’t. We want to move with the times, and ProLaw enables us to do that. I’d recommend it for sure.”

LightGabler’s future plans for using ProLaw even more extensively include increasing the amount of report customization it undertakes and using the document assembly tool, which is the only component of ProLaw that the firm does not currently deploy. “Being able to click on a couple of buttons in ProLaw to create a template letter, for example, that can just be filled in — that would be a major time saver for us,” says Toerner. “We do everything else in ProLaw, that’s all that’s left.” 

LightGabler

LightGabler advises businesses across California on employment issues, employment and business litigation (including complex class, collective, and representative actions), intellectual property, and unfair competition. Its offices are in Camarillo in Ventura County.

Business challenges

Operating a paperless office, LightGabler needed a holistic solution that could meet all of its practice management needs, but one that worked effectively and efficiently in the cloud, enabling anywhere, anytime accessibility.

Why ProLaw

ProLaw delivers a comprehensive array of features and functionality all in one place. Critically, everything works together smoothly, with users able to “hot-key” quickly to different areas of the system. Its seamless integration with Microsoft Outlook and LevelCloud was another major plus.

Benefits

• All-in-one solution with extensive features and functionality
• Fast, efficient maneuverability around the program
• Makes processes like timekeeping and billing easy
• Interconnects with Microsoft Outlook and cloud-based service providers
• Remote accessibility, with no need for internal servers or IT support

Representation from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) embarked on a three-day trip to Africa to discuss hot-button criminal justice issues like pretrial detention with more than 20 governments on the continent.

Assistant Attorney General Kenneth Polite of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division joined Kenya Director of Public Prosecutions Noordin Haji and the Honorable Chief Justice of the Kenya Supreme Court Martha Koome at the inaugural Africa Regional Colloquium on “Enhancing the Delivery of Justice by Addressing Pretrial Detention Challenges,” according to a DOJ announcement.

The gathering was hosted in Nairobi, Kenya and featured an open discussion surrounding ways to find a balance between national security, public safety and the fair, orderly and efficient administration of justice.

“Events like today’s provide us opportunities to learn from each other, consider new approaches, and reaffirm our shared commitment to advancing the rule of law,” Polite said. “These opportunities reinvigorate us, equip us with more tools, and build closer partnerships to help overcome shared challenges and meet our responsibilities to our citizens and the international community.”

From Twitter

Andrew J Franklin @AndrewJFrankli1 

"Replying to @NeilWalsh_UN @USEmbassyKenya and 12 others: There are 16,000 plus innocent Kenyans held in remand awaiting trial; many have been held in prison for periods of time longer than the prison terms that attach to the crimes for which they are to be tried. Kenya’s injustice system is broken and no longer fit for purpose!"

Per the announcement, the topics discussed included:

• “Causes and consequences of excessive pretrial detention;
• International norms;
• Alternatives to pretrial detention;
• Developing plea agreement regimes to reduce pretrial detention; and
• The unique challenges presented by terrorism and violent extremism.”

Pretrial detention and its associated impacts have become a battleground issue for criminal justice reform advocates and hardline anti-crime pols. One such advocacy group, the Prison Policy Initiative, says there are more than 400,000 individuals in the U.S. detained prior to trial. According to their measurements, the number of individuals put in jail ahead of trial has quadrupled since the 1980s.

“Many are jailed pretrial simply because they can’t afford money bail, others because a probation, parole, or [U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement] office has placed a ‘hold’ on their release,” according to the advocacy group.

From Twitter

Larry @_larry_cl 

"There’s an Assistant Attorney General, Criminal Division of the US Department of Justice, Kenneth Polite, lecturing Kenya on pre-trial detention. For context, the US is responsible for >20% of ALL detainees in the world."

Koome, who delivered the event’s keynote address, said the concept of innocence until one is proven guilty is a “sacrosanct” principle often “put to the test” when it comes to pretrial detention.

“As custodians of the law, we must strive to ensure that our justice systems are both efficient and effective. We must work towards reducing case backlogs, streamline court processes, and leverage on technology to expedite court proceedings. We must embrace the view that justice is not merely punitive but is also preventive and restorative. It is a mechanism for social change or social transformation,” she said.

Per the DOJ, representatives from the following nations participated in the gathering: Algeria, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Cote d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Morocco, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Somalia, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda and Zambia.

The legal community continues to grapple with a slew of mental-health-related challenges as suicidal thinking, substance abuse and other obstacles threaten the profession. For that reason, during the month of May, which is recognized as Mental Health Awareness Month, legal advocates, law firms and others in the legal community have again taken the opportunity to shed light on the issue and work toward mitigating these dangers.

One such organization, the Institute For Well-Being In Law (IWIL), designated the first week of the month as Well-Being Week in Law as a way to call upon the legal community to encourage individuals in need of assistance to seek help.

“The aim of WWIL is to raise awareness about mental health and encourage action and innovation across the profession to improve well-being,” according to the IWIL. “In 2021, the event’s name was changed from ‘Lawyer Well-Being Week’ to Well-Being Week in Law to be more explicitly inclusive of all of the important contributors to the legal profession who are not lawyers.”

The statistics measuring the legal community’s mental health obstacles are jarring. According to a report in a special issue of MDPI’s Healthcare published earlier this year, lawyers contemplate suicide at an alarming rate. Suicidal ideations occur between 10% and 12% of attorneys in the U.S.. For the rest of the adult population, that number is only 4.2%.

“Lawyers are prone to mental health issues, including anxiety, depression, and substance abuse, which are strongly linked to suicide risk,” according to the report. “A nationwide study of ~13,000 lawyers indicated that 28% experienced depression, 19% reported anxiety, 21% had alcohol use problems, and 11% had problems with drug use.”

Lawyers also reported higher stress and loneliness levels, which the report notes are both “well-established” precursors to suicide. “Work-related hazards specific to the legal profession may also contribute to suicide risk. For example, lawyers are expected to work long hours, meet tight deadlines, and handle complex legal issues, all while maintaining a high level of professionalism and client satisfaction,” the report continues.

From Twitter

Ginger Lerner-Wren @JudgeWren

"Survey finds deluge of mental health issues among state’s lawyers #LawyerWellness @NJStateBar @StateCourts @MentalHealthAm @LoriLevin @OHCircuitRider @karibowieHertel @dislaw @goldenerin https://newjerseymonitor.com/2023/04/17/survey-finds-deluge-of-mental-health-issues-among-states-lawyers/"

Another report from NORC at the University of Chicago, which measured well-being specifically for lawyers working in Massachusetts, found an eye-opening 77% of lawyers in the state reported burnout, and just under half considered leaving their job or the profession altogether.

The report also indicates approximately 42% of Massachusetts lawyers reported “hazardous or unhealthy alcohol use,” more than one in four reported high anxiety, about one in five reported depression and 7% reported suicidal ideation. A 66% majority, though, reported “overall satisfaction with their lives.”

From Twitter 

K&L Gates LLP @KLGates

"May is #MentalHealthAwarenessMonth, but the well-being of our lawyers and allied professionals is a year-round priority at our firm. Our Health Matters program strives to eliminate the stigma of seeking help with mental health-related challenges."

For its part, the IWIL says it is up to the legal community to combat this crisis. “When our professional and organizational cultures support our well-being, we are better able to make good choices that allow us to thrive and be our best for our clients, colleagues, organizations, families, and communities. It is up to all of us to cultivate new professional norms and cultures that enable and encourage well-being. Do your part and help spread the word,” reads information from IWIL.

Resources for those seeking help or looking to spread awareness can be found here.

A new survey released in conjunction with the annual Law Day celebration indicates Americans see a startling lack of “civility” in the U.S. As such, the 2023 American Bar Association (ABA) Survey of Civic Literacy also found respondents participating in the survey pointed to the media as the chief culprit.

“The results: A majority agreed that civility is worse, that political compromise is good, but many are not willing to compromise on specific issues. Also, most U.S. residents think Americans don’t know much about how government works,” according to the ABA. The survey was released on Monday, May 1, and encompasses the thoughts of 1,000 respondents from around the U.S. It was conducted in March by DAPA Research at the behest of the ABA, and its margin of error is 3 percentage points.

“Law Day provides an opportunity to understand how law and the legal process protect our liberty, strive to achieve justice, and contribute to the freedoms that all Americans share,” reads information from the trade association. Traditionally, May 1 is set aside as a day to “celebrate the rule of law.” The 2023 iteration of the day comes with the theme of “Cornerstones of Democracy: Civics, Civility, and Collaboration.”

From Twitter

C-SPAN Classroom @CSPANClassroom

"President Dwight D. Eisenhower commemorated the first #LawDay #OnThisDay 65 years ago. The holiday celebrates the importance of the rule of law to the United States. Learn more from @RodRosenstein and others: https://c-span.org/classroom/document/?8078…. #SSChat #EdChat #GovChat #APGov #RuleofLaw"

The survey results show a substantial erosion in the perception of “civility” over the last decade. To that end, 85% of those asked said civility is worse now than it was 10 years earlier. For nearly 30% of those asked, social media was to blame, and another 24% pointed to the media in general while 19% hold public officials accountable for the results.

When pressed on who should be responsible for improving interpersonal relations, 34% of respondents said friends and family while 27% called on public officials to take the lead. Additionally, 11% said it is the responsibility of community leaders while 7% said they believe that burden should be placed upon teachers.

“Almost everyone said they want government leaders to work toward compromise and not hold their ground until they win,” reads the ABA analysis of the survey’s results. “More than 3 out of 4 (79%) said they support compromise. Only 13% support government leaders holding their ground.”

Interestingly, though, when it comes to certain areas of interest, the survey respondents indicated a proclivity for stubbornness. Per the ABA, 57% of those asked said they oppose compromising on the issue of voting rights and 45% said they oppose compromise on the issue of reproductive rights, the same rate as those who favor compromise. More respondents than not, though, support elected officials finding common ground on infrastructure, immigration reform, Social Security and gun rights.

From Twitter

Summit County Clerk of Courts @SummitClerkOH 
"Since 1958, every president of the United States has issued a #LawDay proclamation recognizing the importance of the rule of law in our country. Each year there is a theme set forth by the @ABAesq."

Additionally, 53% of those asked said the public is “not very informed about how government works,” and an additional 17% said they believe the general public is “not at all informed” about how the government functions.

As such, a majority of those asked were properly able to identify John Roberts as the chief judge in the U.S. However, 19% of those asked assumed that position to be held by Clarence Thomas.

The federal government’s sprawling antitrust lawsuit against Google is getting bigger as nine new states signed on to the legal action recently, per an announcement from the U.S Department of Justice (DOJ).

Initially, the DOJ, along with the attorneys general from California, Colorado, Connecticut, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Tennessee and Virginia, filed a civil lawsuit in the Eastern District of Virginia alleging the media giant violated Sections 1 and 2 of the Sherman Act. The allegations center on the notion that Google monopolized “multiple digital advertising technology products.”

“We look forward to litigating this important case alongside our state law enforcement partners to end Google’s long-running monopoly in digital advertising technology markets,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Doha Mekki of the DOJ’s Antitrust Division. “Today we welcome the States of Arizona, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Washington, and West Virginia who join our existing coalition of eight co-plaintiff states, to deliver the benefits of competition to website publishers, digital advertisers, and the American public.”

The complaint alleges in the last 15 years Google has exhibited persistent exclusionary and anticompetitive tendencies, which include eliminating or neutralizing advertising competitors through acquisition and “thwarting” the use of competing products.

According to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), there are three “core” antitrust laws in the U.S. One of them, the Sherman Act, deals with the monopolization of trade, or any attempts or related conspiracies to those ends.

“Long ago, the Supreme Court decided that the Sherman Act does not prohibit every restraint of trade, only those that are unreasonable. For instance, in some sense, an agreement between two individuals to form a partnership restrains trade, but may not do so unreasonably, and thus may be lawful under the antitrust laws,” according to the FTC. “On the other hand, certain acts are considered so harmful to competition that they are almost always illegal. These include plain arrangements among competing individuals or businesses to fix prices, divide markets, or rig bids.”

From Twitter

Luther Lowe @lutherlowe ·Apr 17

"Google’s AI PR blitz is all about reinforcing a narrative (repeated here by a Google-funded trade group leader) that the emergence of new consumer AI products makes the DOJ’s antitrust case irrelevant."

Dan Taylor, the vice president of Global Ads for Google said the lawsuit is an unfair attempt to “pick winners and losers” in a highly competitive sector. At the heart of his rebuttal is the failure of a similar case brought in Texas. That case was largely dismissed, Taylor said, due to flaws in the government’s argument that Google’s practices have slowed innovation, spiked ad fees and thwarted the growth of small publishers and businesses.

“DOJ is demanding that we unwind two acquisitions that were reviewed by U.S. regulators 12 years ago (AdMeld) and 15 years ago (DoubleClick),” wrote Taylor. “In seeking to reverse these two acquisitions, DOJ is attempting to rewrite history at the expense of publishers, advertisers and internet users. Both of these acquisitions enabled us to invest heavily in developing new and innovative advertising technologies.”