The American Bar Association Commission on Women in the Profession has released findings on how workplace experiences impact the mental health and mental well-being of women lawyers compared to men.
“Mental Wellbeing in the Legal Profession: The Unique Challenges of Women Lawyers and a Path Forward,” which highlights the differences across race, ethnicity, disability and gender identity, is the first national study centered around the mental well-being of women lawyers.
The findings, based on responses from 2,915 lawyers, found persistent barriers, ranging from workplace pressures and systemic inequities to external societal demands for women in the field.
“The mental well-being of women lawyers is not merely a personal concern; it is a foundational pillar for the ethical integrity, innovation and sustainability of the legal profession as a whole,” the report said. “Creating environments that prioritize mental well-being requires intentional, ongoing efforts to foster inclusivity, strengthen support structures and eliminate the stigma surrounding mental health.”
The report recommends treating mental well-being as an organizational responsibility through leadership accountability, workload reform (including billable-hour review) and equity-informed policy design.
Organizations should improve policy communication, normalize its use through leadership modeling and provide confidential mental-health resources while addressing structural contributors to stress, the report suggests
“Meaningful progress requires moving beyond individual coping strategies to address the systemic workplace conditions that disproportionately impact women lawyers, creating sustainable change through leadership commitment and cultural transformation,” the report said.
“After hearing from almost 3,000 lawyers, the study’s findings unfortunately point us toward a clear and uncomfortable truth: The challenges described within this report are not primarily rooted in individual resilience, but in the systems, expectations and cultural norms that define our profession,” said Karol Corbin Walker, chair of the commission. “Change does not require a single sweeping solution; it begins with deliberate choices about what we prioritize, what we measure, what we reward and what we model every day.
“The path forward is both challenging and deeply important," Corbin Walker said. “Supporting mental well-being is not separate from sustaining excellence in the legal profession — it is fundamental to its very existence.
Key findings in the report include:
Persistent Gender Disparities: Women reported significantly higher stress levels across nearly all domains — financial strain (40% vs. 29.5% for men); mental wellness issues (35.9% vs. 26.1%); sleep disturbance (30.6% vs. 18.6%); and family relationship issues (29.9% vs. 18.6%). Women also showed higher rates of anxiety (36.9% vs. 22.7%) and depressive symptoms (19.4% vs. 15.1%) warranting clinical evaluation.
Cumulative, systemic stressors: Women described stress as ongoing and embedded in legal practice structures — billable hour requirements, workplace culture, gender bias and work–life conflict — rather than isolated personal challenges. Caregiving
responsibilities, particularly the “motherhood penalty,” emerged as a critical stressor.
Policy-implementation gap: While mental wellness policies exist, women rarely utilize them due to stigma, confidentiality concerns, professional risk and unchanged workload expectations. Leadership modeling and cultural change are absent.
Intersectional variations: Women requiring workplace accommodations and LGBTQIA+ lawyers reported substantially higher mental health symptoms and lower well-being. Women of color frequently described stress related to marginalization, bias and additional burdens of proving competence.
Structural, not individual: Women emphasized that mental wellness challenges stem from organizational structures and professional norms, not personal resilience deficits.
The mean age of survey respondents was 54, with respondents ranging from 21 to 95 years. The median year of law school graduation was 1999, and respondents indicated graduating between 1950 and 2025, indicating a range of new and seasoned lawyers.
Most respondents were female (69%), heterosexual (90%) and married (71.3%). Respondents identified their race as white/Caucasian (80.5%); and had an annual salary between $200,000 and $499,000 (31.8%).
The report is based on findings from an online survey, policy analysis and focus groups that examined how the workplace experiences of women and men impact their mental health and well-being, including about stressors in their workplace, what they do for self-care and ways their employers respond to these situations and promote mental well-being.
The report was written by Paulette Brown, Suzanne Randolph Cunningham and Lauren Ramsey. It will be available free of charge to ABA members for 21 days and then available for a nominal charge to members and non-members.
Online: https://www.americanbar.org/news/abanews/aba-news-archives/2026/07/cowp-report-persistent-barriers/
“Mental Wellbeing in the Legal Profession: The Unique Challenges of Women Lawyers and a Path Forward,” which highlights the differences across race, ethnicity, disability and gender identity, is the first national study centered around the mental well-being of women lawyers.
The findings, based on responses from 2,915 lawyers, found persistent barriers, ranging from workplace pressures and systemic inequities to external societal demands for women in the field.
“The mental well-being of women lawyers is not merely a personal concern; it is a foundational pillar for the ethical integrity, innovation and sustainability of the legal profession as a whole,” the report said. “Creating environments that prioritize mental well-being requires intentional, ongoing efforts to foster inclusivity, strengthen support structures and eliminate the stigma surrounding mental health.”
The report recommends treating mental well-being as an organizational responsibility through leadership accountability, workload reform (including billable-hour review) and equity-informed policy design.
Organizations should improve policy communication, normalize its use through leadership modeling and provide confidential mental-health resources while addressing structural contributors to stress, the report suggests
“Meaningful progress requires moving beyond individual coping strategies to address the systemic workplace conditions that disproportionately impact women lawyers, creating sustainable change through leadership commitment and cultural transformation,” the report said.
“After hearing from almost 3,000 lawyers, the study’s findings unfortunately point us toward a clear and uncomfortable truth: The challenges described within this report are not primarily rooted in individual resilience, but in the systems, expectations and cultural norms that define our profession,” said Karol Corbin Walker, chair of the commission. “Change does not require a single sweeping solution; it begins with deliberate choices about what we prioritize, what we measure, what we reward and what we model every day.
“The path forward is both challenging and deeply important," Corbin Walker said. “Supporting mental well-being is not separate from sustaining excellence in the legal profession — it is fundamental to its very existence.
Key findings in the report include:
Persistent Gender Disparities: Women reported significantly higher stress levels across nearly all domains — financial strain (40% vs. 29.5% for men); mental wellness issues (35.9% vs. 26.1%); sleep disturbance (30.6% vs. 18.6%); and family relationship issues (29.9% vs. 18.6%). Women also showed higher rates of anxiety (36.9% vs. 22.7%) and depressive symptoms (19.4% vs. 15.1%) warranting clinical evaluation.
Cumulative, systemic stressors: Women described stress as ongoing and embedded in legal practice structures — billable hour requirements, workplace culture, gender bias and work–life conflict — rather than isolated personal challenges. Caregiving
responsibilities, particularly the “motherhood penalty,” emerged as a critical stressor.
Policy-implementation gap: While mental wellness policies exist, women rarely utilize them due to stigma, confidentiality concerns, professional risk and unchanged workload expectations. Leadership modeling and cultural change are absent.
Intersectional variations: Women requiring workplace accommodations and LGBTQIA+ lawyers reported substantially higher mental health symptoms and lower well-being. Women of color frequently described stress related to marginalization, bias and additional burdens of proving competence.
Structural, not individual: Women emphasized that mental wellness challenges stem from organizational structures and professional norms, not personal resilience deficits.
The mean age of survey respondents was 54, with respondents ranging from 21 to 95 years. The median year of law school graduation was 1999, and respondents indicated graduating between 1950 and 2025, indicating a range of new and seasoned lawyers.
Most respondents were female (69%), heterosexual (90%) and married (71.3%). Respondents identified their race as white/Caucasian (80.5%); and had an annual salary between $200,000 and $499,000 (31.8%).
The report is based on findings from an online survey, policy analysis and focus groups that examined how the workplace experiences of women and men impact their mental health and well-being, including about stressors in their workplace, what they do for self-care and ways their employers respond to these situations and promote mental well-being.
The report was written by Paulette Brown, Suzanne Randolph Cunningham and Lauren Ramsey. It will be available free of charge to ABA members for 21 days and then available for a nominal charge to members and non-members.
Online: https://www.americanbar.org/news/abanews/aba-news-archives/2026/07/cowp-report-persistent-barriers/
