ABA study finds 47.4% high burnout among 37,000 lawyers

On September 9, the American Bar Association announced a nationwide study of approximately 37,000 actively licensed lawyers in which 47.4% screened positive for high burnout, 21.7% for moderate-to-extremely severe depression and 41.8% for risky drinking. The open-access research also found that 35.9% reported high or very high work–family conflict, 27% had considered leaving the profession because of mental health, burnout or stress, and only 39.1% believed employers were doing enough. For law firm leaders, the findings make workload and recovery measurable management concerns: the study linked weeks exceeding 71 hours with markedly higher stress and burnout risk and identified private practice and litigation as higher-risk settings. Firms should segment wellbeing data by hours, practice, seniority and work–family conflict, while protecting confidentiality, so interventions address where exposure is concentrated rather than averaging it across the workforce.