Archive for June 27, 2007
Are lawyers emotional wrecks?
Jun 27th
Asks this WSJ law blog post.
“Depression, stress, career issues and addictions . . . we understand what it’s like to face personal problems within the profession.” That’s the caption on an advertisement run by a Beantown-based organization called Lawyers Concerned for Lawyers (LCL). LCL was founded nearly 30 years ago mostly as a support group for lawyers with drinking problems. But over the years, as the stress level of practicing law has spiked, lawyers seek its services for different reasons.
Today, attorneys contact LCL mainly for help battling depression. According to the Globe, the shift mirrors reinforces studies showing that lawyers are more depressed than those in any other occupation. Work life, especially at big firms, can be emotionally draining. “Intense deadlines, staggering billable-hour requirements, and grinding hours are routine. Even veteran lawyers often find themselves disillusioned by the increasingly business-like practice of law.”
Other issues reportedly contribute to the practice’s toll. The conflict-driven nature of the profession plays a role. And the personality type frequently drawn to the law — perfectionist, high-achieving — is particularly vulnerable to becoming depressed, the article says.
The post then invites comments and boy, comments there are! We lawyers sure do love to talk. 86 comments as of the time of writing this post. Some of them are extremely entertaining; some sensible. So. Are you an emotional wreck? Are you?
[poll=9]
The little state that could
Jun 27th
Rhode Island’s legislature voted to remove mandatory-minimums.
The General Assembly has approved legislation that rolls back mandatory minimum sentences for drug crimes, a move that proponents hope will cut costs, ease overcrowding at the state prison and give judges more discretion in meting out punishment.
The vote, in the waning hours of the legislative session that concluded early Saturday, comes as the prison grapples with a rising inmate population and adds Rhode Island to a growing list of states where lawmakers have mulled changes to their sentencing policies.
The legislation repeals minimum sentences imposed for drug crimes and also reduces the maximum punishment an offender can receive. Under the bill, for instance, a defendant convicted of possessing more than one kilogram of heroin, or more than five kilograms of marijuana, would no longer face a mandatory minimum sentence of 20 years in prison.
“It would give the judges discretion,” Metts said. “Certainly in the late teens, early 20s, people do make mistakes. It shouldn’t mean that your life is over.”
It’s not clear how much impact the bill would have on the inmate population — which surged earlier this month to a record-high of 3,889 — since most drug offenders in Rhode Island already receive relatively short prison sentences. In 2006, the average sentence for a drug offense was 20 months, with only 6 inmates getting sentences of 10 years or more, according to data provided by the state Department of Corrections.
Criticisms of mandatory-minimum sentences have been voiced for a number of years now, so it is great to see a state taking this step to address head on the problems of prison overcrowding. Whether this has any actual impact remains to be seen. According to the linked article, Michigan is apparently the only other state in the country that has taken the step of eliminating min-mans for drug offenses.
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