In a recent article published on Law.com, contributor Vanessa Ford highlights the persistent issue of mental health in the legal profession and raises a crucial point – if the problem is labeled as an ‘industry-wide issue’, nobody assumes responsibility for corrective action.
Ford evidently indicates the growing mental health crisis within the legal profession requires an effective address, a process which becomes stagnant if the blame for such widespread issue is conveniently deflected by classifying it as an ‘industry-wide’ concern. When blame lies seemingly with everyone, it technically falls on no one, thus the need for subsequent action is dramatically reduced.
She also argued, it’s likely that such problems will only get worse if we continue to throw the responsibility around instead of each and every law firm taking the initiative to make a change. For legal professionals, the warning is clear – identifying a problem as ‘industry-wide’ might take the edge off the blame, but it does us no favors in finding a viable solution.
Ford’s observations are a stark reminder of the need to start individual and collective measures to effectively combat ongoing issues within the legal sector, rather than conveniently categorizing them as widespread, absolving the individuals and corporations from shouldering responsibility.
Her call to action makes it clear that the practice of deflecting responsibility on to the wider industry isn’t just ineffective, but it’s detrimental to those who are most affected and urgently require a solution.
For those interested, the complete commentary by Vanessa Ford can be found here.