Senior Advisor
Krill Strategies
The Elusiveness of Well-Being in the Legal Profession
After reviewing 11 years of data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, The Washington Post identified the law as the most stressful profession. With all the stressors and demands of the legal profession, is prioritizing mental and physical health attainable for legal professionals?
During this panel, Bree Buchanan and Patrick Krill, two global leaders in the study of health and well-being of the legal profession, will share data from their research on attorney mental health and substance abuse and discuss its implications for lawyers, clients, and public trust in the legal profession.
The panelists will also provide recommendations on realistic practices that all lawyers—from BigLaw to solos—can implement to support their health and well-being and the effective delivery of legal services.
Speaker Bio
Bree Buchanan, JD, MS, is Senior Advisor for Krill Strategies, a legal consulting firm providing support to AmLaw100 firms seeking to enhance well-being among their personnel. In 2020, she worked with a small team to create the Institute for Well-Being in Law and served as its first executive director and board president. In January 2024, Bree was recipient of the Reed Smith Award for Excellence in Well-being in Law in recognition of her pioneering work in the field. Prior to this, she served as director of the Texas Lawyers Assistance Program and Chair of the ABA Commission on Lawyers Assistance Programs. Currently, she serves as a commissioner for the International Bar Association’s Professional Wellbeing Commission. Bree’s work in lawyer well-being follows a twenty-five-year career spent working on issues related to domestic violence during which she worked as a litigator, lobbyist, and law school professor.