The Right Not to Remain Silent: The Truth About Mental Health in The Legal Profession is a groundbreaking book that sets the stage for revolutionizing how mental health is perceived in the legal profession and beyond. It contains a series of candid and courageous memoirs by members of the legal profession living with mental health and addiction issues. The authors are judges, lawyers, and law professors with wide-ranging legal practices in British Columbia, Alberta and Ontario including at Bay Street and small boutique firms.

Young lawyers and senior members of the profession share their experiences of working while living with various types of challenges – depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, eating disorders, addiction, grief, imposter syndrome, and perfectionism.

The Right Not to Remain Silent: The Truth About Mental Health in The Legal Profession addresses the insidious nature of mental health stigma and isolation in the legal community. But it is fundamentally a book about hope. As the authors discuss their sometimes harrowing journeys, they also show routes back to meaningful engagement with colleagues and work.

To read these personal accounts is to be moved, inspired, and hopefully galvanized into action at the individual, collegial, and organizational level. This book offers practical solutions to change the culture of legal practice and beyond so as to bust apart stigma and isolation, foster people getting the support they need, and cultivate more diverse workplaces.

Contributors

David S. Goldbloom

The Honourable George R. Strathy

The Honourable Michele Hollins

Beth Beattie

Carole Dagher

Thomas Telfer

Katherine Cooligan

Orlando Da Silva

Michael R. Ferguson

Michael Herman

Aidan Johnson

Imran Kamal

Ryan Middleton

Yadesha Satheaswaran

Leslie Anne St. Amour

Dan Stein

Courtney Wilson

Leena Yousefi

Brett D.M. Jones

Shayan Imran

M. Ishrat Husain