Dear
MDL Litigators,
Attorney
Mental Health is a major topic of conversation this month. Following the
suicide of brilliant, highly successful Cuban American attorney Ervin Gonzalez,
who hung himself at his Coral Gables mansion on June 9, 2017, the Cuban American
Bar Association in Miami is taking positive steps to help attorneys.
“Cuban American Bar Assoc. Zeroes In On
Attys' Mental Health By Carolina
Bolado Law360, Miami (August 25, 2017, 9:47 PM EDT) -- After the
suicide in June of a prominent Miami attorney rocked the local legal community,
the Cuban American Bar Association is making mental health a focus,
starting with an annual luncheon Friday that featured attorney Brian Cuban —
brother of businessman Mark Cuban — to talk about his struggle with addiction
and depression. Cuban, who joked that he is “a Cuban, but not Cuban,” told the
crowd of attorneys and judges how he would go into court high on cocaine and attend
mediation sessions hung over..”
This
following the American Bar Association’s Report on Attorney Mental Health, “The Path to
Lawyer Well Being: Practical Recommendations for Positive Change”, August 14,
2017, shows the Cuban Bar Association in Miami is serious about Attorney Mental
Health.
“Our
profession confronts a dwindling market share as the public turns to more
accessible, affordable alternative legal service providers. ….To maintain
public confidence in the profession, to meet the need for innovation in how we
deliver legal services, to increase access to justice, and to reduce the level
of toxicity that has allowed mental health and substance use disorders to
fester among our colleagues, we have to act now. Bree Buchanan, Esq.
James C. Coyle, Esq. Task Force Co-Chairs”
"This report’s recommendations
focus on five central themes:
(1) identifying stakeholders and the
role each of us can play in reducing the level of toxicity in our profession,
(2) eliminating the stigma associated
with help seeking behaviors,
(3) emphasizing that well-being is an
indispensable part of a lawyer’s duty of competence,
(4) educating lawyers, judges, and law
students on lawyer well-being issues, and
(5) taking small, incremental steps to
change how law is practiced and how lawyers are regulated to instill greater
well-being in the profession."
“Lawyers, judges and law students are
faced with an increasingly competitive and stressful profession. Studies
show that substance use, addiction and mental disorders, including depression
and thoughts of suicide—often unrecognized—are at shockingly high rates. David
R Brink*, Past President, American Bar Association”
I
sincerely hope this will also be featured at Mass Torts Made Perfect, October
18-20, 2017 at the Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas by brilliant attorney Mike
Papantonio of Levin Pantonio.
Regards,
Lana
C. Keeton
©
2005 - 2017 Lana C. Keeton All rights reserved. Peace be with You.
This
material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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