Hello friends,
In my last column, I poked some fun at national this or that days. And while the national this or thatting of every day can be over commercialized or overdone, the national calling of our attention to causes can be useful and important. June was PRIDE month. Many of us join in the celebration as allies or as members of the LGBTQ+ community to celebrate progress and the hopeful future of inclusiveness. But there are reminders that we still have work to do. Please take the time to read and consider the op-ed in this edition by Kevin Kampschror. I hope we can all answer his call to stand up to hate.
August is National Wellness Month. It’s an opportunity to focus on the importance of self-care, managing stress, and promoting healthy routines. There are few professions where that focus is more important than ours. A recent study revealed some harrowing results:
Lawyers who reported high stress levels were 22 times more likely to experience thoughts of suicide than lawyers with low stress, while lawyers with moderate stress were more than five times as likely. Lawyers who were highly “overcommitted” to their work—characterized by researchers as an all-encompassing level of devotion, a sentiment reflected in recent American Lawyer surveys of partners and associates—were more than twice as likely to consider suicide than those who maintained boundaries with their work.
“Lawyers Who Are Highly Stressed Are 22 Times More Likely To Consider Suicide,” Above the Law (Feb. 14, 2023).
Take some time to work on your wellness this month, and while you are at it, if you can, help another lawyer work on theirs. The Nevada State Bar has some great resources to help you or another lawyer you know do just that: https://nvbar.org/for-lawyers/resources/lawyer-wellbeing/.
We’ll all be a little better if we take some time to stand up for the wellness of ourselves and others.
About this article: This article was originally published in the Communiqué, the official publication of the Clark County Bar Association, (Aug. 2023). See https://clarkcountybar.org/about/member-benefits/communique-2023/communique-august-2023/.
About the author
Brandon Kemble, Esq., is an Assistant City Attorney in the Civil Division with the City of Henderson. Brandon handles litigation for the City and provides legal advice and legislative support for various City departments. Brandon serves as the CCBA President through December 2023.
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