Ohio County Magistrate Joe Roxby works in his office in Wheeling. He supports the creation of a task force to combat mental health and substance abuse issues in the legal profession. Photo by Jessica Broverman

The West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals has established a task force to combat mental health and substance abuse issues in the legal profession.

Chief Justice Margaret Workman issued the order earlier this year. The task force is to report to the Supreme Court by Dec. 31.

According to national studies, law students and lawyers experience chronic stress and higher rates of depression and substance abuse than the general population. The National Task Force on Lawyer Well-Being issued a report in August, which provides suggestions for judges, legal employees, law schools, bar associations, regulators and lawyer professional liability carriers.

The chairperson of the task force, Justice Beth Walker, believes it will assist lawyers and judges in serving the community to the best of their ability.

“The gist of this is that the Supreme Court is ultimately responsible for upholding the standards for lawyers and judges to perform successfully. At the very core, we want people to have good, competent representation,” said Walker.

The response from the legal community in West Virginia has been encouraging, according to Walker.

“The feedback I have received is positive. Folks have known lawyers are subject to higher usage of drugs and depression and when you see a profession that is a higher risk, you address it,” said Walker.

“It is challenging to be a lawyer and they are expected to be perfect all the time and they deal with each other in very contentious proceedings. We want to make sure they are taking care of themselves so they can be good lawyers for the public.”

Almost 20 legal officials have been appointed to the task force.

Ohio County Magistrate Joe Roxby believes the task force will benefit attorneys who are overexerted.

“That is a stressful business. They work in a hostile lifestyle and they work way too many hours, too many days a week,” said Roxby.

“Basically, the impression I get talking to these folks is you are expected to work for 18 hours a day, but do 36 hours of work. They pay these folks a lot of money, but on the other hand, they take over their lives. To me, it is not a good trade off.”

Roxby believes lawyers work hard, but are often overworked to the point of exhaustion.

“They make a lot of money, but I think sometimes these people they work with, these firms, just have these unrealistic expectations. They bury these guys in their office — they don’t see their families and they live in the no fun zone,” said Roxby.

“These guys do a lot of good work and they’ve given me advice. A lot of these guys have a lot of high end legal talent and help people in desperation and they’ve done a lot.”

The task force also intends to assist law students with their extensive studies and stress load. Marc Dunbar, student at the West Virginia University College of Law, said the task force is a move in the right direction.

“I think if positive information comes out of the studies ran by the task force, we could see changes and resources implemented for lawyers in the area and hopefully a nationwide change,” said Dunbar.

“Being a law school student is quite stressful at times. The amount of assignments and reading for each class keeps you overly busy. Also, actually understanding and digesting the information is the hard part.”

Dunbar says he has assorted ways of relieving stress and would like to thank the Supreme Court for creating the task force. “I try to handle it by scheduling my days in a way that I get some relaxation time and I like to go to the gym as well. Sometimes, I’ll have a few beers at the end of the day,” said Dunbar.

“I would thank the Supreme Court for taking notice and implementing change to help the lawyers suffering from these issues.”

Ohio County Assistant Prosecutor Shawn Turak hopes to see positive results at the year’s end once all data has been obtained.

“I think the task force has potentially very positive outcomes and appears to have a composition of members and leadership that will bring much to the table. I have been an attorney for 25 years and stress and substance abuse are well-known demons to this profession,” said Turak. “When combined with the faster pace, technology-driven society within which we live, it only adds to the stress of the practice of law. I am hopeful that some positive recommendations flow from this task force that can be implemented and incorporated into the practice of law and will look forward to the results at year-end.”