Key Takeaways

• More than 41% of surveyed lawyers say the legal profession has harmed their mental health.
• Nearly half screened positive for high burnout, while 41.8% screened positive for risky drinking.
• More than one-quarter have considered leaving the profession because of mental health concerns, burnout or stress.

By Samuel López | USA Herald

For a profession built around protecting other people’s interests, the latest findings raise an uncomfortable question: Who is looking after the lawyers?

A nationwide study of approximately 37,000 actively licensed attorneys found that 41.1% said their time in the legal profession had damaged their mental health. Nearly half screened positive for high burnout, and 27% reported considering leaving the profession because of mental health concerns, burnout or stress.

The American Bar Association and Krill Strategies announced the findings in September 2026, describing the research as the largest study of lawyer mental health and well-being ever conducted.

The results suggest that distress has become a significant workforce problem, with consequences reaching into lawyers’ homes and decisions about whether to continue practicing.

The study found that 21.7% met screening thresholds for moderate-to-extremely severe depressive symptoms, 20.4% for anxiety and 18.9% for stress. High burnout affected 47.4%, including 15.6% who met the severe-burnout threshold.

These figures describe symptoms identified through screening, not clinical diagnoses. Researchers also said this was the first national estimate of lawyer burnout using a scientifically validated self-report measure of work-related fatigue and exhaustion. That distinction matters: the findings establish a benchmark but do not, by themselves, demonstrate how much burnout has increased over time.

Alcohol use presents another concern. Some 41.8% screened positive for risky drinking under standard clinical thresholds, while 26.3% met a higher cutoff used to identify hazardous drinking in the 2016 study.

There was improvement in that higher-risk measure: hazardous drinking was approximately 10 percentage points lower than in 2016. Nevertheless, the ABA said alcohol risk remained elevated compared with typical adult or primary-care benchmarks.

Only 2.3% reported a current alcohol use disorder diagnosis. Researchers suggested that the gap between screening results and reported diagnoses could reflect obstacles to seeking help, fears about professional licensing or a workplace culture that normalizes heavy drinking. The gap does not establish that every lawyer screening positive has an undiagnosed disorder.

The pressures were unevenly distributed. Younger lawyers showed the highest mental health risk. Men were more likely to experience depression, while women reported higher anxiety and stress.

Workplace conditions also mattered. Solo practitioners and lawyers in private firms showed higher predicted levels of distress and burnout than attorneys working in-house or in judicial and academic settings. Litigation practices were associated with elevated burnout and mental health symptoms, particularly when combined with extreme hours.

Lawyers working at least 71 hours weekly faced substantially higher stress and burnout risk than those working a standard 40-hour week. Meanwhile, 35.9% reported high or very high conflict between work and personal life.

For an exhausted attorney, those overlapping demands can leave little room to recover. The findings identify associations, however, rather than proving that a particular job or schedule caused an individual’s condition.

Respondents expressed considerable dissatisfaction with institutional support. Only 39.1% believed their employers were doing enough, and just 25.3% thought the profession’s response was adequate. Approximately 81% considered greater efforts to reduce mental health and substance use problems important or very important.

“A mentally healthy lawyer is a better lawyer,” ABA President Barbara J. Howard said.

The ABA supports state and local Lawyer Assistance Programs and a workplace well-being pledge that has attracted 257 signatories since 2018.

Authored by Patrick R. Krill and Justin J. Anker, the study drew respondents from 28 jurisdictions and weighted the data against the ABA’s 2024 lawyer population survey. It appears in the Journal of Affective Disorders and can be accessed here. Also see: Survey of Lawyer Well-Being

For legal employers, the findings invite a practical test of their commitments: Can an attorney obtain support, manage a sustainable workload and take time to recover without fearing professional consequences?

About the Author

Samuel López has reported for USA Herald since 2022. A senior legal analyst, investigative journalist and legal researcher, he brings more than two decades of experience in the legal and insurance sectors to his coverage of litigation and complex legal matters.

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