Legal Community Proposes Law Schools Incorporate Stress Management into their Curriculums

The first year of law school is a time of significant stress. Last week, Law.com reported on a post made in the r/lawschool sub-reddit by a user who described their experience as a first semester law student. The poster noted that because of stress, they suffered from unintentional weight loss, vision changes, headaches, acid reflux, and newly acquired tremors after the first semester. The thread quickly garnered many replies. While some expressed sympathy and concern, over 70 comments by other law school students described similar stress-induced physical ailments including weight gain, low energy, poor nutrition, constant fatigue, eczema, and anxiety.

Charles N. Todd, Dean of Students for the University of Chicago Law School, speaking to Law.com about the thread, described the first year of law school as “one of the steepest learning curves.” However, he continued on to say that, “I tell students all the time that it’s not going to get any easier. The demands of your time will not go away once you leave school. In fact, you’re going to have more things with family responsibilities, life, and work, so we really want them to learn how to develop healthy habits in law school so those will sustain them throughout their career.” 

The initial reddit poster followed up to share their decision to visit a doctor and noted their intention to create healthier habits the next semester. Dean Todd recommended taking small breaks throughout the day to incorporate healthy activity. “It doesn’t have to be this big interruption in your day, it could be a 10-minute break to color or to have some healthy food or do some stretches because you’ve been sitting a long time,” he said. 

Others in the legal community suggest that law schools should take more responsibility for student health. Janet Thomas Jackson, a law professor at Washburn University School of Law, calls for law schools to take an active role in promoting wellbeing and mental health within their student populations. In an article written for Bloomberg Law, she noted how frequently law students and legal professionals are impacted by depression. According to the Dave Nee Foundation, “Depression among law students is 8-9% prior to matriculation, 27% after one semester, 34% after 2 semesters, and 40% after 3 years.” Further, just as Dean Todd noted, the foundation’s data shows that stress and its associated effects do not necessarily recede after law school. Rather, lawyers are the most frequently depressed professional group within the U.S., and lawyers suffer depression at a rate 3.6 times that of non-lawyers. 

Jackson suggests that the legal community not accept this as inevitable; she proposes that law schools integrate discussions of physical and mental health throughout student’s tenure, starting at orientation. And prior to starting classes, law schools should educate students and their families on the “expectations and predictable stressors” of law school, resources for seeking help, and insight into healthy habits and effective stress management. She notes that students of color should receive additional support, including safe spaces and communities where they can share their experiences and feel a sense of belonging. Finally, Jackson recommends that self-care practices and physical and mental health be integrated into the curriculum. “In other words, law schools should play a primary role in normalizing discussions and actions around the mental and physical care of its students,” she said.  

Related Blogs: Law School Students Still Not Receiving Adequate Mental Health Support

15-Year Law School Experience Study Shows Changes in Student Demographics and Debt, Consistency in Student Satisfaction with Legal Education

Last week the Law School Survey of Student Engagement (LSSSE) put out a longitudinal study examining the law school experience over the last 15 years. Key findings include some areas of significant change, including increases in student diversity, growing student debt, and improvements in student learning outcomes, but also consistency in topics including job expectations and overall satisfaction with legal education. The survey includes responses from over 70,000 students at 248 law schools who participated in LSSSE surveys in 2004, 2009, 2014, and 2019.

Demographics

Between 2004 and 2019 student demographics shifted with proportionately more students of color and fewer White students; the share of White students decreased from 83 percent to 70 percent, while the percentages of Multiracial (+8 percentage points), Black (+2), and Latinx (+3) students increased. The percentage of Asian Americans stayed the same at 6 percent. In 2004, women held a slight majority of the student population at 51 percent, which increased to 56 percent in 2019.

The average age of law students decreased slightly from 29 in 2004 to 27 in 2019. The largest changes were evident in the number of respondents under the age of 23, which made up 1 percent of the population in 2004 and jumped to 9 percent in 2019, as well as in the number of respondents between the ages of 26 to 30, which decreased from 37 percent in 2004 to 28 percent in 2019.

Finally, average LSAT scores and undergraduate GPAs were slightly lower in 2019 compared to 2004. In 2019, fewer students scored above 161 on the LSAT (15 percent in 2019, 21 percent in 2004), slightly fewer scored between 150-160 (51 percent v. 53 percent), and a higher percentage reported scoring below 150 (34 percent v. 26 percent). Similarly, reported undergraduate GPAs were lower amongst the 2019 respondents compared to those in 2004; in 2019, 40 percent reported a 3.50 and above (-2 percentage points from 2004), 38 percent reported a 3.00-3.49 (-4 from 2004), 17 percent reported a 2.50-2.99 (+3), and 5 percent reported a 2.49 or below (+3).

Debt

The population expecting to pay over $100,000 in student debt has risen significantly since 2004, with a spike occurring in 2009. In 2004, 18 percent of students expected to owe more than $100,000 in student debt (5.1 percent for public law schools, 22 percent for private). In 2009 that number more than doubled to 40 percent, and then increased to 43 percent in 2014. In 2019, 39 percent expected to owe more than $100,000 (27 percent in public law schools and 46 percent for private).

While the percentage of students expecting significant debt has increased from 2004 across all races, the number of Black and Latinx facing significant debt has grown more sharply when compared to White or Asian American students over the same time-period. In 2004, 18 percent of White students, 21 percent of Black students, and 22 percent of Latinx students expected to owe over $100,000. In 2019, 35 percent of White students, 56 percent of Black students, and 53 percent of Latinx had the same expectation.

Learning Outcomes

Students in 2019 were more positive about their law school’s contribution to various learning outcomes than in previous years.

• 45 percent responded that law school contributed to their understanding people of other racial/ethnic backgrounds, compared to 23 percent in 2004

• 58 percent responded that law school contributed to developing a personal code of values and ethics, compared to 43 percent in 2004

• 60 percent responded that law school contributed to solving complex real-world problems, compared to 45 percent in 2004

• 54 percent responded that law school contributed to developing clearer career goals, compared to 37 percent in 2004.

Job Expectations

Respondents in 2004 and 2019 responded very similarly in terms of job expectations with differences of only an occasional percentage point for the various job types: Business and Industry, Government Agency, Public Interest Group, Private Firm, and other. However, a notable difference was apparent within the private firm category. In 2004, 17 percent expected to join a small firm with less than 10 attorneys, 19 percent expected to join a mid-size firm with 10-50 attorneys, and 13 percent expected to join a large firm with more than 50 attorneys. In 2019, just 8 percent expected to join a small firm, 15 percent a mid-size firm, and 22 percent a large firm.

Law School Satisfaction

With slight variations, law school students are generally likely to rate their experience as Excellent or Good; responses ranged from 81 percent positive (2019) to 84 percent positive (2009) over the four survey years. Interestingly, while respondents rated their relationships with faculty members relatively consistently over time (78 percent positive in 2004, 76 percent in 2019), students rated their relationships with other students lower in 2019 (81 percent positive in 2004, 76 percent in 2019).

While Black women were the least likely to rate their law school experience positively in both 2004 and 2019, the percent positive did increase from 70 percent in 2004 to 75 percent in 2019. Asian American Women and Black Men saw the largest increases in positive ratings with 6 percentage point increases from 2004 to 2019 (79 percent and 85 percent in 2019, respectively).

Across sub-categories that measured satisfaction with academic advising, career counseling, personal counseling, and job search help, the numbers in each category increased slightly across the four survey years. In 2019, respondents were most positive on academic advising (71 percent positive) and reported the least satisfaction with job search help (66 percent positive). Additionally, students are more likely to take advantage of these offerings than in previous years; over 90 percent of students reported using academic advising and planning, and career counseling services, 84 percent used job search help, and 62 percent used personal counseling.