Solace for Stressed Solos: Bar's counseling group gives lawyers a place to talk out theirfrustrationsAuthor(s): JILL SCHACHNER CHANENSource: ABA Journal, Vol. 85, No. 8 (AUGUST 1999), p. 82Published by: American Bar AssociationStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/27840920 .

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Solace for Stressed Solos Bar's counseling group gives lawyers a place to talk out their frustrations BY JILL SCHACHNER CHANEN

After practicing in a variety of settings for 11 years, one Washing ton, D.C., lawyer decided to give so lo practice a try.

It was not what she expected. Along with losing a chunk of her income, she began to lose a large

measure of her confidence. After the first few months, she became scared about what she was doing? and that she was doing it alone.

Money became an issue. She had plenty of clients, but as a court appointed counsel for child abuse and neglect cases, she quickly learned that getting the D.C. court system to pay her fees was time consuming and frustrating.

The lawyer, who asked to re main anonymous, needed an outlet ?a place to unload her emotions.

"I wanted a place to go to that was confidential so I could talk free ly about my work and my frustra tions with solo practice," she says. "I also wanted it to be a place [where others] could relate to what I am going through."

The lawyer found it in the District of Columbia Bar's Sole Practitioner Support Group, run under the auspices of the bar's Lawyer Counsel ing Program. The sessions directed by a facilitate are equal parts group ther apy and peer counselinc with a bit of fraternization and networking thrown in.

"We recognize that there is a significant stress factor for peo ple in solo practice," says Lynn Phillips,

D.C. bar counselor

Lynn Phillips says the group helps relieve the isolation of solos.

who runs the group. "It is a differ ent kind of pressure than being in a law firm. Here you find the kind of lawyer who is the same person who drafts the letter, types it, puts it in an envelope, stamps it and mails it.

We recognize that this is a group that is particularly stressed."

The group was formed in 1993, starting out slowly but steadily add ing participants, says Phillips, the bar's mental health counselor. She says that about a half-dozen lawyers regularly come to the group's twice monthly meetings.

Phillips says solo practitioners need the support of such a group to relieve isolation and help refocus their careers. "For many solos, be nign drift has set in," she says, de scribing a frequent phenomenon in which solos find themselves aim lessly pursuing cases and clients. "You don't know where you want to go, and you just drift.''

The program aims to stop the drift by allowing solos to discuss in a confidential setting their pro

fessional and personal ups and HHk downs. The group sets the

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interterviewing when she toyed with the idea of leaving solo prac tice. The group gave her the confi dence to continue to practice as a solo, she says. "I learned how to be

more stable [as a solo practitioner]. And I do feel more stable."

The support group is not in tended to provide therapy for de pression or substance abuse, Phil lips says, nor is it a law practice

management consultation service.

'As a lawyer, you are trained to put yourself last,' behind clients' demands.

Lawyers with those needs can find help from the oth er services of fered by the bar. Phillips

says she screens participants to make sure they have proper expec tations.

Nevertheless, there is no short age of participants. "There are a lot of people who could benefit from a

support group like this," she says.

Idea Doesn't Sell Elsewhere Surprisingly, few other bar as

sociations have support groups that offer the same kind of service. Oth er bars and lawyer assistance pro grams have tried to establish simi lar models but failed.

In Massachusetts, the Boston based Lawyers Concerned for Law yers found no interest in the idea. "I think the idea of a support group is still somewhat foreign," says Bonnie Waters, the group's execu tive director. "It is not a concept that lawyers are comfortable with yet. Lawyers are trained to take care of others. They tend to try to figure out [their problems] for them selves."

Phillips concurs. "As a lawyer, you are trained to put yourself last," behind the demands of a client and running a practice, she says. "If that happens, frequently you get stressed, it gets harder to take a va cation," and you stagnate.

For many solos, toughing it out by themselves is not the answer. Instead, they need to talk it out with those who are going through the same frustrations.

"We are in a very, very stress ful field," the D.C. solo says. "There needs to be an outlet."

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