Noah Leinen, MJLST Staffer
Introduction and Context
“[T]he commodification of the legal profession is an ‘unambiguous contributor’ to the pervasiveness of lawyer distress.”[1] In other words, associates suffer for each dollar a firm earns. Historically, lawyers were more likely to be anxious, interpersonally insensitive, isolated, obsessive-compulsive, and hostile.[2] And, at least as of the 1990s, we were more likely to suffer from depression, phobic anxiety, and paranoid ideation as well.[3] Although language has changed, lawyers today are more suicidal, more likely to be problem drinkers, depressed, and stressed.[4] And yes, we are still anxious.[5] So, we are unhappy and unhealthy (and undoubtedly still unethical).[6]
Who cares? Young professionals, like me, for one. But firm executives ought to as well because of the increase in well-being initiatives.[7] If these initiatives don’t actually help associates, firms are simply burning cash.
Generally speaking, promoting wellness is a good investment as it reduces attrition.[8] Healthy people make a healthy firm, which is more stable and productive, making them more likely to resist drastic market shifts by increasing associate retention over the long run. But not all strategies are equal, and optimizing such initiatives is an ongoing project.
Instead of dumping money into inefficient strategies, like hiring a well-being speaker for a brief Tuesday lunch hour, firms should invest in individual-based well-being strategies. One way to increase individual health is to track it. Thus, personal health metric devices ought to be a standard benefit for new associates. The question, however, is how a firm might improve individual wellness and well-being.
Methods of Measuring Well-Being
Although there is no definition of well-being, the scientific community discusses it as a composite of subparts, including but not limited to economic, emotional, physical, and spiritual dimensions.[9] Another definition might include interpersonal, communal, and occupational wellness as additional elements. Simply put, well-being is not one-dimensional.
Well-being is also difficult—if not downright impossible—to meaningfully measure. One might try a social welfare analysis from microeconomics to capture collective well-being, for example, by summing the total wealth, utility, or capability of a community as a proxy for well-being. This could provide insight into a community’s wellness. As a proxy, this is not useless, but it is unlikely to give a strong measuring stick for comparing the collective well-being of two firms. Alternatively, one might try to record, qualitatively, each individual’s satisfaction of the hierarchy of needs as conceived by Maslow. Besides economic welfare analysis and psychology, human health metrics may also provide meaningful insights. Finally, long-term friendships are really, really good for human longevity and healthspan.[10] Conversely, isolation is clearly detrimental to one’s well-being.[11] Measuring an individual’s significant relationships (their depth, consistency, and length) might therefore also serve as a useful proxy for estimating well-being. Regardless of whether the analysis is economic, psychological, or sociological in nature, well-being is complex. Despite this complexity, firms still try to improve it.
Current Methods and Strategies of Improving Well-Being
From wellness speakers to weeklong celebrations, titled “Well-being Week”, firms have a host of strategies for improving the health of their workers. Some firms have well-being committees consisting of self-selected employees who provide educational wellness opportunities for fellow colleagues.[12] Other firms hire dedicated well-being directors to spearhead internal well-being initiatives, both to provide similar educational opportunities and also destigmatize dialogue regarding mental health issues.[13] Finally, the ABA has published a Well-Being Toolkit, which includes an eight-step action plan for legal employers, along with other lawyer well-being resources, such as book recommendations, public speakers, and consultants.[14] Firms have several methods for improving well-being; however, one uncommon approach is distributing individual health metric devices.
Firm-Wide Distribution of Individual Health Metric Devices
Beyond books, speakers, and dedicated committees of employees, one comparatively simple step that has not been widely adopted is enabling and encouraging individuals to track their health metrics. From a broad meta-survey in 2022, activity trackers were found to generally improve physical activity and health.[15] Such behavioral changes persisted for upwards of six months.[16] Fitness trackers, such as a Whoop Band or Oura Ring, can serve as physical activity trackers.
Health metric monitors often record sleep data as well. Sleep monitoring is correlated with an improved perception of sleep quality and reduced disturbances.[17] Instead of being caused by the health metric monitor, however, this correlation could be caused by an increase in physical activity.[18] The perception of improved sleep may simply have occurred after participants started working out more.[19] So, if the goal is to improve sleep, tracking physical activity data instead of sleep data is a safer investment. Thus, firms should consider explicitly including physical activity tracker devices in benefits packages, with the goal of improving individual physical well-being, which, when aggregated, is likely to improve firm well-being.
Conclusion
Well-being initiatives are a step in the right direction toward improving lawyer well-being. Given that a firm’s number one resource is its workers, improving individual health can improve overall collective firm health. As tracking individual health metrics via personal fitness devices is likely to lead to an increase in individual well-being, then in the name of a more productive and stable firm, personal fitness devices should be provided to every associate.
Notes
[1] Jarrod Reich, Capitalizing on Healthy Lawyers, The Practice (Mar. 2020), https://clp.law.harvard.edu/knowledge-hub/magazine/issues/approaching-lawyer-well-being/capitalizing-on-healthy-lawyers/.
[2] Id.
[3] Id.
[4] Id.
[5] Id.
[6] Patrick Schiltz, On Being a Happy, Healthy, and Ethical Member of an Unhappy, Unhealthy, and Unethical Member of an Unhappy, Unhealthy, and Unethical Profession, 52 Vand. L. Rev. 871, 871 (1999).
[7] See e.g. Well-Being Pledge Campaign, ABA, https://www.americanbar.org/groups/lawyer_assistance/well-being-in-the-legal-profession/well-being-pledge-campaign/ (last visited Sept. 22, 2025, 3:05 PM).
[8] Reich, supra note 1.
[9] Tara Bautista, et. al., What is Well-Being? A Scoping Review of the Conceptual and Operational Definitions of Occupational Well-being, 7 J. Clinical & Translational Sci. 1, 1, 8 (2023).
[10] Zara Abrams, The Science of Why Friendships Keep Us Healthy, 54 Monitor on Psych. (4) (June 1, 2023), https://www.apa.org/monitor/2023/06/cover-story-science-friendship.
[11] Id.
[12] Operationalizing Well-Being, The Practice, (Mar. 2020), https://clp.law.harvard.edu/knowledge-hub/magazine/issues/approaching-lawyer-well-being/operationalizing-well-being/ (last visited Sept. 22, 2025, 3:08 PM).
[13] Id.
[14] Anne Brafford, Well-being Toolkit for Lawyers and Legal Employers, ABA, (Aug. 2018), https://www.americanbar.org/groups/lawyer_assistance/well-being-in-the-legal-profession/well-being-pledge-campaign/.
[15] Ty Ferguson et. al., Effect of Wearables on Sleep in Healthy Individuals: A Systematic Review of Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses, 4 Lancet Digital Health (8), e615 (2022).
[16] Id.
[17] Sarah Berryhill et. al., Effect of Wearables on Sleep in Healthy Individuals: a Randomized Crossover Trial and Validation Study, 16 J. Clinical Sleep Med. 5, 775 (2020).
[18] Id.
[19] Iuliana Hartescu et. al., Increased Physical Activity Improves Sleep and Mood Outcomes in Inactive People with Insomnia: a Randomized Controlled Trial, 24 J. Sleep Rsch. 5, 526 (2015) (discussing a strong correlation between increased physical activity with improved sleep).