Bowditch:A Litigator’s Guide to a Healthier Life
May is Mental Health Awareness Month, a time to call attention to the stressors inherent in the work of litigators and the ways we address them. Litigation is an adversarial system where we perform at a high level to win a legal fight. Clients demand results, and opposing counsel may take contentious positions. It is increasingly the norm for several years to pass between initial filing and resolution, creating an extended workload.
Layered onto these pressures is the reality of modern professional life, where the expectation is constant accessibility. Emails, texts and calls create a steady stream of communications that blur the line between urgent and non-urgent, work time and personal time. The result is a culture in which lawyers feel compelled to always be “on.” This constant connectivity can disrupt focused work and amplify baked-in litigation stress.
Lawyers of all experience levels are not immune to these high-stakes and stressful circumstances. The good news is that while much about litigation is outside of our control, a surprising amount is not. By focusing on what is within our control, litigators can develop healthier practices without sacrificing effectiveness or advocacy.
Read the full story via Mass Bar Association: https://www.massbar.org/publications/section-review/section-review-article/section-review-2026-may-june-2026/controlling-what-you-can-control-a-litigator-s-guide-to-a-healthier-life