Emergencies Past and Emergencies Present

Yesterday was the end of the controversial program known as Title 42, which allowed the U.S. to turn away migrants and deny their right to seek asylum on the grounds of preventing the spread of COVID. However, we aren’t here to talk about or pass judgment one way or the other on the policy. Rather I want to think about the nature of public health emergencies.

I am thinking about that because, as we’ve said before, the legal profession is facing its own epidemic of sorts. Yet there is not an emergency declaration and not enough of us who are talking about this problem. The mental health challenges faced by the legal profession, and the lives we’ve lost to that epidemic, need to be talked about so that those who are still struggling know that they are not alone.

We need to develop systems, like the ones offered by The LegalMind Society, that will allow attorneys to seek help without being hindered by stigma and without fear of disciplinary action.

Of course, there is no emergency declaration for us. Instead, we have to sound our own alarm and look out for one another. This is, after all, a self-policing profession. And our hope is that it can be a self-healing one as well.