Lawyer, Be Thyself: An Empirical Investigation of the Relationship Between the Ethic of Care, the Feeling Decisionmaking Preference, and Lawyer Wellbeing

Abstract

Attorney distress is an empirically-documented phenomenon. Depression and alcoholism, for example, appear to occur among attorneys at about twice the rate found in the general population. Existing empirical research suggests that certain personality attributes and decision making preferences predominate among attorneys. Previous commentary has argued for the value of an ethic of care and a Feeling decision making preference in the law, yet these traits are often underrepresented among lawyers. This study investigated whether these arguably atypical traits were empirically linked to attorney distress or work dissatisfaction. This study found no relationship between these two traits and attorney distress and dissatisfaction, but there was a strong correlation between psychological distress and work dissatisfaction among attorneys. Implications of these findings for the profession are explored.

Keywords: attorney distress, depressions, behavior