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Supplemental Digital Content is available in the text Objectives: Two studies were conducted to determine whether mindfulness meditation could be an effective tool for improving well-being among legal professionals—a population plagued by high rates of depression, anxiety, and stress. Methods: Study 1. Legal professionals completed questionnaires before and after an 8-week mindfulness program. Study 2. Lawyers were randomly assigned to either an experimental or waitlist condition. Questionnaires were administered at the beginning of the study and after experimental participants had completed a 30-day intervention. Results: Study 1. Participants reported significant improvements in mood, resilience, trait mindfulness, stress, anxiety, and depression over time. Study 2. Post-intervention, experimental participants reported better mood, lower levels of stress, and higher levels of non-reactivity and observing than waitlist participants. Conclusions: Mindfulness and meditation may effectively improve well-being among legal professionals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite ample best practice recommendations for competency to proceed (CTP) evaluations, direct observation of defendant-attorney interactions is an unstudied methodological technique for assessing defendants' abilities to assist and consult with their attorneys. This mixed-methods study surveyed 57 forensic evaluators regarding their history and opinions of direct observation as a component of CTP evaluations. The majority (70.20%) of forensic evaluators had engaged in direct observation on at least one occasion, with some practicing this approach in up to 85% of their evaluations. A minority endorsed or expressed concerns regarding this practice (e.g., third-party effects, violations of attorney-client privilege). Results of this study provide a preliminary indication of how evaluators perceive the potential utility and hazards of direct observation. In response, we offer a framework for approaching direct observation and highlight the need for additional research examining the impact of this methodological technique for CTP evaluations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Law professionals are an understudied population that is integral to society. Limited research indicates lawyers experience poor mental health, decreased wellbeing, and suicidality. This cross-sectional study recruited 654 law professionals and responses to a depression scale, the patient health questionnaire 9 (PHQ-9) were compared with the general working population. Lawyers were significantly more likely to report suicidal ideation "several days" and "more than half the days" as compared with the general working population, with odds ratios (OR) of 6.54 (95% confidence interval [CI] 4.16 to 10.29) and 5.50 (95% CI 2.23 to 13.53) respectively. Lawyers were more likely reported mild (OR = 3.89, 95% CI 3.04 to 4.96), moderate (OR = 5.29, 95% CI 3.61 to 7.76), moderately severe (OR = 9.71, 95% CI 5.50 to 17.14), and severe (OR = 18.34,95% CI 6.00 to 56.11) depressive symptoms. 17.5% of lawyers in this study were experiencing symptoms equivalent to a diagnosis of a major depressive disorder. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article aims to indicate what the current expectations of the South African Courts are, as viewed by lawyers and advocates with regard to neuropsychological evaluations in motor vehicle accident claims in South Africa. Purposive sampling of 26 experienced legal practitioners in the Gauteng and North West provinces was done. They were identified by means of a list available at the High Court indicating which practitioners work in the context of motor vehicle accident claims. These participants have at least 10 years' experience in matters arising from motor vehicle accident claims. Semistructured interviews were conducted which were recorded, transcribed, and analyzed by means of thematic analysis. The results indicate that legal practitioners find neuropsychological reports to be too long, owing to unnecessary repetition. They expect more structure in the document and less jargon and fewer technical terms. According to the legal practitioners there is too much focus on the test results and too little elaboration on the behavioral implications of injuries. They also expect reports to clearly illustrate the link between collateral findings and the neuropsychological sequelae. To make the information more understandable the lawyers expect the forensic neuropsychologist to report the test descriptions and results together. Findings must be clear to provide a clear psychological prognosis (i.e., indicate the difference between pre- and postmorbid) to determine loss of earnings. In conclusion, it is recommended that neuropsychological practitioners receive more specialized training to satisfy the expectations of the courts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The vast amount of control that state trial judges exercise over the dynamics of their courtrooms is well established. The length of trial days and jury deliberations, however, has received little scholarly attention. Longstanding research has conclusively established the disruptive effects of sleep deprivation on many of the mental facilities necessary for juries to competently fulfill their duties. By depriving juries of sleep, trial judges may be compromising the fair rights of criminal defendants for the sake of efficiency. This Note argues that trial judges must use their discretion to ensure juries are well rested, keeping jurors’ needs in mind. Further, state legislatures have a responsibility to properly fund state courts and to pass legislation that ensures overlong trial days do not impact verdicts handed down. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers advice for lawyers on handling the stresses of the legal profession. Topics covered include the positive and negative effects of stress, the concept of psychological capital, and the four positive mental strengths that make up psychological capital, including self-efficacy, resilience, hope, and optimism.

The present qualitative study explores advocates' opinions of misinformation about human trafficking in the media and describes advocates' strategies to counter the misinformation presented by the media. Thus, 15 advocates who work against human trafficking in Chicago-based nonprofit organizations participated in semistructured interviews about their opinions and strategies. Data were analyzed using thematic content analysis. The present study identifies specific misperceptions of human trafficking in the media, highlights advocates' opinions of this misinformation, and discusses advocates' strategies to counteract inaccurate media, adding support to the role of media advocacy. Advocates note how media images shape and perpetuate stereotypes of trafficking through glamorizing sex work and sensationalizing stories that are most often international depictions of trafficking. Advocates report media generally shares only a piece of the story, simplifying the stories of survivors and the issue of human trafficking. Advocates critique media perpetuating these misperceptions for how they may contribute to policies and programs which fail to address structural factors that create vulnerabilities to be trafficked and the multisystem needs of survivors. However, advocates also note misperceptions can be counteracted by producing sensitive, informed media through social platforms. Advocates share their strategies counteracting misinformation through engaging in informative conversations, utilizing social media to educate, and promoting media messages of survivor agency. Research, clinical, and policy implications are also discussed. The present study emphasizes the importance of decision makers and service providers being critical consumers of media and to assess how media portrayals may (or may not) inform their understanding and response to the issue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intrafamilial child sexual abuse is the commonest, though the under-reported, form of child sexual abuse in Marondera District and Zimbabwe generally. However, little is known about what drives it and what practitioners know about it. This study explored the factors associated with the incidence of intrafamilial child sexual abuse in Marondera based on perceptions of Victim-Friendly Court professionals in the district. A semi-structured questionnaire was administered to twenty-five professionals from thirteen agencies implementing the Victim-Friendly Court initiative in Marondera. Relevant court records of intrafamilial child sexual abuse cases were also reviewed. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis, descriptive statistics and document analysis. The study revealed that intrafamilial child sexual abuse in Marondera is associated with very subtle structural factors which put children at risk of abuse, prevent children, families, and communities from reporting, and reduce the accessibility of formal systems of social control. There are 'conflicts' between normative/legal and traditional socio-cultural value systems such that there is no shared understanding of the fundamental issues driving this phenomenon. Policy/practice responses need to take cognizance of these peculiarities. As a basic first step, a comprehensive national prevalence study is required. Further in-depth research of the socio-cultural determinants of intrafamilial child sexual abuse is also recommended. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the links between our roles as academics, advocates, and activists, focusing on our research on treatment decisions for patients in vegetative and minimally conscious states. We describe how our work evolved from personal experience through traditional social science research to public engagement activities and then to advocacy and activism. We reflect on the challenges we faced in navigating the relationship between our research, advocacy, and activism, and the implications of these challenges for our research ethics and methodology—giving practical examples of how we worked with research participants, wrote up case studies and developed interventions into legal debates. We also address the implications of the impact agenda—imposed by the British Research Excellence Framework— for our actions as scholar‐activists. Finally, we ask how practicing at the borders of academia, advocacy, and activism can inform research—helping to contextualize, sensitize, and engage theory with practice, leading to a more robust analysis of data and its implications, and helping to ensure a dialogue between research, theory, lived experience, front‐line practice, law, and public policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Legal concerns have been implicated in the occurrence of variability in decisions of limitations of medical treatment (LOMT) before death. Objective: We aimed to assess differences in perceptions between physicians and prosecutors toward LOMT. Measurements: We sent a survey to intensivists, oncologists, and prosecutors from Brazil, from February 2018 to May 2018. Respondents rated the degree of agreement with withholding or withdrawal of therapies in four different vignettes portraying a patient with terminal lung cancer. We measured the difference in agreement between respondents. Results: There were 748 respondents, with 522 (69.8%) intensivists, 106 (14.2%) oncologists, and 120 (16%) prosecutors. Most respondents agreed with withhold of chemotherapy (95.2%), withhold of mechanical ventilation (MV) (90.2%), and withdrawal of MV (78.4%), but most (75%) disagreed with withdrawal of MV without surrogate's consent. Prosecutors were less likely than intensivists and oncologists to agree with withhold of chemotherapy (95.7% vs. 99.2% vs. 100%, respectively, p < 0.001) and withhold of MV (82.4% vs. 98.3% vs. 97.9%, respectively, p < 0.001), whereas intensivists were more likely to agree with withdrawal of MV than oncologists (87.1% vs. 76.1%, p = 0.002). Moreover, prosecutors were more likely to agree with withholding of active cancer treatment than with withholding of MV [difference (95% confidence interval, CI) = 13.2% (5.2 to 21.6), p = 0.001], whereas physicians were more likely to agree with withholding than with withdrawal of MV [difference (95% CI) = 10.9% (7.8 to 14), p < 0.001]. Conclusions: This study found differences and agreements in perceptions toward LOMT between prosecutors, intensivists, and oncologists, which may inform the discourse aimed at improving end-of-life decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the high prevalence of behavioral health disorders in justice settings and prior research on the importance of attitudes in successful treatment outcomes for behavioral health populations, few studies have examined criminal justice professionals' attitudes toward mental illness and substance use. We conducted a state-wide survey of 610 criminal justice professionals using items adapted from the Drug and Drug Problems Perceptions Questionnaire (Albery et al. 2003) to examine attitudes toward mental illness and substance use as a function of criminal justice position and personal contact. For attitudes toward both mental illness and substance use, defense attorneys and community corrections officers reported more positive attitudes relative to jail correctional staff and prosecutors. For attitudes toward substance use, personal contact moderated the effect of position on attitudes. Findings underscore the importance of targeted training and other contact-based interventions to improve criminal justice professionals' attitudes toward behavioral health populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract This work presents a Smart Learning system based on Knowledge Discovery and Cognitive Computing techniques aimed at citizens, legal students and experts alike, providing them with the possibility of submitting legal cases expressed in natural language and obtaining legal insight and advice in return. Advanced features implemented within the system include the automatic conceptualization and classification of textual legal cases via natural language processing, the generation of learning paths by relying upon legal ontologies, and additional features for managing legal knowledge bases, including editing, versioning, integration and enrichment. The system has been experimented on a diversified user-base and succeeded in obtaining a positive evaluation with respect to the aspects that were subject of the investigation, including effectiveness, efficiency and usability, thus paving the way to make the system a successful cognitive learning platform for future law professionals and knowledgeable citizens. Highlights • Experimentation of a smart learning system for law based on knowledge discovery. • The system includes advanced intelligent features based on cognitive computing. • The experimentation yielded positive results from a diversified user-base. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Colorado Supreme Court's Task Force on Lawyer Well-Being formed in 2018 to improve well-being among Colorado law students, lawyers, and judges. This Article discusses the recent well-being movement within the American legal profession that inspired the creation of the Colorado Task Force. The Article reviews national studies of lawyer and law student well-being that reveal the urgency of the issue, and the Article explains the National Task Force on Lawyer Well-Being's compelling arguments for why lawyer well-being matters for economic, professionalism, and humanitarian reasons. It adds to that discussion the argument that well-being is critical to foster a legal profession that better reflects the diversity of our nation and that will better serve the needs of legal consumers. The Article also discusses how existing Colorado Supreme Court programs have prioritized the issue of lawyer well-being. The Article concludes with discussion of the creation of the Colorado Supreme Court Task Force on Lawyer Well-Being, and details emerging priorities identified by this group at its initial launch meeting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An introduction is presented in which the editor discusses several articles in the issue on topics including psychology of women and gender; research practices of psychologists; and social harms of diagnostic inflation.

Background: Among the young generation, medical and law students' attitude towards third party reproduction is very important because they will be directly involved in restricting or developing the programs that will support it in the future. The aim of this survey was to investigate attitude of law and medical students to oocyte donation and key aspects of this kind of third party. Materials and Methods: In analytical cross-sectional study, 345 medical and law students were randomly selected using stratified sampling. Data was collected using attitude toward donation- oocyte (ATOD-O) questionnaire. Responses were on a 5-point Likert scale. Data were analyzed according to established statistical approach by Heeren and D'Agostino. Results: The majority of the participants agreed with oocyte donation being the last choice for infertility treatment. There was a significant difference between medical students and law students regarding the acceptance of oocyte donation (3.23 vs. 3.53, P=0.025). In addition, female participants were more tolerant on receiving donated oocytes from their sisters than male participants (3.01 vs. 2.58, P=0.002) and finally, a higher number of the participants had a positive attitude towards anonymity of the donor and the recipient to one another (3.93 vs. 3.86, P=0.580). The vast majority of female students believed that the oocyte recipient naturally likes that child (P<0.0001). Conclusion: In the current study, a great majority of law and medical students support oocyte donation as an alternative way of starting a family. There is an interest among female students in donating oocytes anonymously. The majority believed that the oocyte recipient family will like the donor oocyte child naturally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This study adds to the tradition of studying race talk in the context of a flash point in biculturalism in Aotearoa New Zealand. The research examined constructions of the Mayor of New Plymouth (Andrew Judd) following his advocacy for extended Māori representation on the New Plymouth District Council. Data comprised reports, editorials, opinion pieces, and letters to the local newspaper immediately after Judd's appearance on a nationally broadcast current affairs television show when he announced the end of his mayoralty. The analysis considered constructions of Judd as both hero and anti‐hero, with complimentary constructions of the local community as racist, or not. In subscribing to the view for extended representation on the grounds of cultural constituency, Judd was variously positioned as culturally and politically naïve, as a hero for the cause for greater political representation for Māori, and an anti‐hero responsible for letting his own community down and bringing negative publicity to the town he was meant to serve. Judd was the target of abuse that prompted him to end his mayoralty, and this abuse stimulated constructions of widespread community racism. The discussion includes an interrogation of what it means to be a recovering racist, and finally, it is argued that the analysis provides further evidence of the sinuousness of racism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prior research evaluates the health effects of higher status attainment by analyzing highly similar individuals whose circumstances differ after some experience a "status boost." Advancing that research, we assess health differences across organizational contexts among two national samples of lawyers who were admitted to the bar in the same year in their respective countries. We find that higher-status lawyers in large firms report more depression than lower-status lawyers, poorer health in the American survey, and no health advantage in Canada. Adjusting for income exacerbates these patterns-were it not for their higher incomes, large-firm lawyers would have a greater health disadvantage. Last, we identify two stressors in the legal profession, overwork and work-life conflict, that are more prevalent in the private sector and increase with firm size. Adjusting for these stressors explains well-being differences across organizational contexts. This study documents the role of countervailing mechanisms in health inequality research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article empirically analyzes original data to look at stress and stress hardiness in the legal profession. A number of studies address stress in the legal profession and its impact on the mental health of lawyers. Our study, however, is the first to examine stress hardiness in the legal profession. Drawing on quantitative data gathered from 2013-2016 in surveys of 530 law students and lawyers and qualitative data from 106 indepth interviews with lawyers, and building on the work of research psychologists Salvatore Maddi and Suzanne Kobasa, we look at the following questions: Are some lawyers more stress hardy than others? If so, what makes them stress hardy? Are their strategies teachable and learnable? Our data show the following: (1) some lawyers are more stress hardy than others, (2) although no demographic factors correlate to stress hardiness, three behaviors: maintaining a sense of control, a sense of purpose, and cognitive flexibility show a significant correlation to stress hardiness; (3)these behaviors build on each other such that use of one strengthens the use of others, (4) maintaining a sense ofpurpose, a sense of control and cognitive flexibility are teachable and learnable, (5) the type of stress lawyers experience varies by practice area, (6) the level of stress experienced by law students and lawyers remains fairly constant throughout law school and law practice, (7) law students and lawyers report using the following strategies to help manage stress: exercise, social connectedness and three habits of thought: planning and organization, perspective, and gratitude, (8) lawyers report less reliance on exercise and social connectedness as they age and greater reliance on substance use, (9) reliance on drugs and alcohol to manage stress correlates to greater stress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Online surveys were used to sample the views of judges, barristers and solicitors (n = 33) about their engagement with autistic individuals in criminal courts in England and Wales. Despite an understanding of some of the difficulties experienced by individuals with autism, and the adjustments suitable for supporting them, legal professionals reported constraints arising from a lack of understanding by others within the criminal justice system. These results are considered alongside the views and perspectives of autistic adults (n = 9) and parents of children on the autism spectrum (n = 19), who had encountered the criminal courts as witnesses or defendants and were largely dissatisfied with their experiences. Training, understanding and the provision of appropriate adjustments were identified as key issues by all respondent groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lawyers are typically asked why they are able to represent people who are guilty of committing crimes. Mental health professionals, in contrast, appear to be subjected to questioning about why they did not figure out that their patients were about to commit crimes—typically the issue arises only with violent crimes—and why they didn’t manage to stop them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Neoliberalism is the dominant ideology of our time and shows no sign of abating. The undue deference accorded the economy and capital accumulation means that comparatively little attention is paid to the pressures this involves for workers. Although conventionally viewed as privileged professionals, lawyers in corporate law firms have been profoundly affected by the neoliberal turn as firms have expanded from local to national, to global entities, with the aim of maximising profits and making themselves competitive on the world stage. Although corporate clients may be located in a different hemisphere they still expect 24/7 availability of lawyers in contrast to what they normally expect of other professionals, such as accountants. A corollary of global competition is the ratcheting up of billable hours, which has engendered stress and depression. The pressure for firms to be more productive has resulted in increased levels of incivility, including bullying. Despite a plethora of reports attesting to the deleterious effects of stress, scant attention is paid to the neoliberalisation of legal practice. This article argues that the tendency to individualise and pathologise the adverse effects of stress and uncivil behaviours deflects attention away from the political factors that animate them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents information on secondary traumatic stress (STS) among lawyers and judges. Topics discussed include description of STS, risk factors, coping measures, and steps legal and professional education should take to both mitigate the symptoms of STS and increase their resilience in dealing with it.

Research indicates that, in comparison to other university students, law students are at greater risk of experiencing high levels of psychological distress. There is also a large body of literature supporting a general negative association between exercise and stress, anxiety and depression. However, we are not aware of any studies exploring the impact of exercise on the mental health of law students specifically. This article reports evidence of a negative association between exercise and psychological distress in 206 law and psychology students. Compared to psychology students, the law students not only reported greater psychological distress, but, in addition, there was a stronger association between their levels of distress and their levels of exercise. Based on the results of this study, we suggest a simple yet effective way law schools might support the mental health of their students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Attorneys suffer from high rates of stress, alcoholism, and mental health problems that are costly for the legal system and impair their abilities to serve their clients. There is some indication that these problems begin in law school. The present study assessed a cohort of law students at an American law school for their reported levels of stress, depression, anxiety, substance use, and overall adjustment/coping. Findings indicate that law students suffer from high levels of stress, anxiety, depression, and alcohol use, and that these problem behaviors fluctuate throughout the course of law school. We discuss the implications for law student/lawyer well-being and legal education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Legal ethics pedagogy does not often attend to the gap between principles and effective action. A pedagogy that does attend to this gap is ‘Giving Voice to Values’ (GVV). Developed by a US business academic, Mary Gentile, GVV focuses not on the normative questions of 'what is the right thing to do?' but on the behavioural question 'how do we get the right thing done?' GVV has much to offer efforts to foster ethical behaviour in lawyers. In this article, I situate GVV within the behavioural ethics literature, which examines how and why people make the decisions they do in the ethical realm. I then turn to a discussion of the GVV curriculum and a case study of its application in legal education. I report preliminary results from research into the effectiveness of the GVV approach in postgraduate practical legal training. Finally, I encourage legal ethics teachers to experiment with GVV as a way of helping students develop skills for dealing constructively with ethical challenges in legal practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on political and policy issues resonate with all Americans as much as the costs of prescription medications, particularly those for acute and chronic diseases that affect the body and spirit, like cancer. Topics include the administration's intent to change the dynamic on the financial impact of drugs and government oversight, and the politicians are eager to begin a conversation focusing on older adults and Medicare's 58 million enrollees.

The purpose of this study was to examine disciplinary proceedings in the New Zealand Lawyers and Conveyancers Disciplinary Tribunal (NZLCDT) which involved lawyers with physical or mental impairments. International research has documented the high rates of depression, anxiety and substance misuse in the legal profession. Australian and American research has found that disciplinary cases often involve lawyers who are impaired by medical conditions, or substance misuse. Their impairment either contributed to, or was responsible for, their misconduct. In the present study, the disciplined lawyers' demographics, and the nature of the impairments, were described for NZLCDT cases from 2009 to 2013. Twenty one of the 74 decisions involved impaired lawyers. The main types of impairment were depression, anxiety, substance misuse, and stress. This study reinforces the importance of the NZ Law Society's 2009 initiative “Practising Well”, which aims to minimise the adverse impact that impaired lawyers have on themselves, their families, clients, and the profession. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article focuses on framing thoughts and meanings in one's mind. Topics discussed include the definition of the term meaning according to lawyers and judges, thoughts being divided into planes of reference, issue, analysis and conclusion (RIAC), the doctrine of original meaning being used by legal formalists, originalism being used to interpret written information, metaphors of issues being framed in thoughts and the use of metaphors in narratives.

Throughout affluent societies there are growing numbers of people who survive severe brain injuries only to be left with long-term chronic disorders of consciousness. This patient group who exist betwixt and between life and death are variously diagnosed as in 'comatose', 'vegetative', and, more recently, 'minimally conscious' states. Drawing on a nascent body of sociological work in this field and developments in the sociology of diagnosis in concert with Bauman's thesis of 'ambivalence' and Turner's work on 'liminality', this article proposes a concept we label as diagnostic illusory in order to capture the ambiguities, nuanced complexities and tensions that the biomedical imperative to name and classify these patients give rise to. Our concept emerged through a reading of debates within medical journals alongside an analysis of qualitative data generated by way of a study of accounts of those close to patients: primarily relatives (N = 51); neurologists (N = 4); lawyers (N = 2); and others (N = 5) involved in their health care in the UK. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mental health evaluation within a legal setting is widely seen as a power to judge. The aim of this paper is to challenge this current thesis, which was popularised by Michel Foucault, who encapsulated the notion in a brief sentence: "The sordid business of punishing is thus converted into the fine profession of curing" (Foucault, 2003: 23). On the basis of an ethnography of a French district court (between September 2008 and May 2009, n = 60 trials) including interviews with judges (n = 10) and psychiatrists (n = 10), we study the everyday penal treatment of sexual offenders using psychiatric reports. Our findings show how (i.) the expectations of the judges select the psychiatrists' skills (based on the following criteria for their reports: accessibility of knowledge, singularization and individualization of content) and (ii.) reframe the psychiatric report as a moral tool. The clinical reasoning of forensic psychiatrists in their reports offer moral affordances due to their clinical caution regarding the risk of recidivism (therapeutic and criminological reversal, moral prevention). Both the judges' evaluation and the psychiatrists' clinical authority are shaped by a moral economy of dangerousness, which eclipses the idea of lack of criminal responsibility. In conclusion, we show that these unintended effects are necessarily of interest to most clinical practitioners engaged in work as expert witnesses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the usefulness of character inquiry and fitness requirement process in becoming a lawyer. Topics discussed include significance of psychological research in determining which type of behavior will be problematic in the workplace, a case study based on information gathered during the character and fitness inquiry of lawyers in Connecticut, and protection of the public and the judicial system from problematic lawyers using the process.

Background Self-employed workers experience occupational stress and may suffer from various mental health disorders. Aims To assess the mental health, substance use and risk factors for psychological distress in a sample of self-employed lawyers and pharmacists. Methods A cross-sectional study, using self-completion postal questionnaires, of lawyers and pharmacists. The General Health Questionnaire-28 (GHQ-28) was used as a measure of current mental health, and some additional questions evaluated alcohol, tobacco and psychotropic drug use and somatic morbidity. A multiple regression model was used to analyse the respective impact of the different risk factors on psychological suffering. Results A total of 1282 lawyers and 1153 pharmacists participated representing response rates of 36 and 35%, respectively. According to the GHQ-28 score, the rate of psychological distress was high in the sample overall, especially in lawyers (52 versus 47% in pharmacists, P < 0.05). According to the mean number of drinks per day, 16% of the lawyers and 13% of the pharmacists reported alcohol misuse, and lawyers were twice as likely as pharmacists to smoke (26 versus 13%, P < 0.001). Higher GHQ-28 scores were associated in lawyers with female gender, being widowed or divorced, smoking and using anxiolytic medication and in pharmacists with being younger, smoking, alcohol abuse and anxiolytic and hypnotic use. Conclusions In our sample of these self-employed groups, both pharmacists and lawyers reported a high rate of psychological distress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the legal aspects of negotiating peremptory challenges (PCs) which allow litigants to remove otherwise qualified prospective jurors from a jury panel without any showing of cause as of January 2014, focusing on the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in the 1986 case Batson v. Kentucky which deals with remedies for race- and gender-related abuses of the PC process. According to the article, negotiating PCs could protect the rights of excluded jurors and preserve party autonomy. Human behavior and the motivations of attorneys are also examined.

In this article, the author discusses various incidences of legal professionals and their relationship with religion. Topics discussed include author meeting with law professor Sam Levine at Fordham conference on law and religion, importance of proper following of Jewish for becoming a Christian, and psychological and religious views of lawyers and legal professionals.

John Tingle, Lecturer in Law, Birmingham Law School, University of Birmingham, discusses the Healthcare Safety and Inspection Branch report on Never Events [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An essay is presented on the relationship between the law and humanities in the U.S. as of 2013, focusing on literary critic William K. Wimsatt, rhetoric, and the mental processes employed by lawyers in America. Wimsatt's essay entitled "What to Say About a Poem" is addressed, along with legal opinions and William Blake's poem "London" which was published in the book "Songs of Experience." Other topics include the U.S. Constitution, dissenting opinions, and gun control laws in Washington, D.C.

The purpose of this study was to explain previously reported high levels of psychological distress in lawyers. General demands (i.e., time pressure and emotional demands) and lawyer demands (i.e., emphasis on profits and competitiveness), as well as three resources (i.e., control, pay, and praise) were examined, along with the moderating role of overcommitment. Participants included 448 Australian lawyers who completed an online questionnaire distributed to them by their state or territory law society. Results revealed significant direct relationships between the demands, resources, and overcommitment on depression and anxiety. Significant two-way interactions indicated that the positive relationship of general demands on depression and anxiety were more marked for high overcommitted lawyers, as was the negative relationship of pay on anxiety. Contrary to predictions for the three-way interaction, in the presence of high general demands, there was a trend to suggest that high control was positively related to psychological distress for high overcommitted lawyers. The theoretical and practical implications of these results, including the importance of identifying overcommitted lawyers and developing preventive interventions to reduce overcommitment prior to the development of strain, are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the psychological aspects of Tennessee attorneys in regards to job-related stress, anxiety, and suicide as of May 2013, focusing on several tips for improving an attorney's mental health through peer support, dietary changes, and physical wellness programs. The U.S. Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) is addressed, along with various Tennessee statutes related to health insurance and disease prevention programs. Breast cancer is also mentioned.

Abstract: Recent French legislative reforms have established a system of name transmission that is less rigid than in the past. But this new system, beneath its more liberal appearances, is not less controlled by the law. The devolution of the name remains an affair of the law: it is the law that determines which name can be transmitted. Finally, the main value of these new laws was to introduce into the legislation some formerly unknown spaces of liberty. These new spaces demonstrate that, from the perspective of the current legislator, the name has in part surpassed its function as civil police to additionally become an aspect of the private and family life of its owner. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Research to date indicates that lawyers are disproportionately affected by psychological distress when compared to the general population, and other occupations. In this study, the Job Demands-Resources Model was used to identify job characteristics associated with psychological distress among lawyers, and to explore the mediating roles of burnout and work engagement. Legal staff (N = 94) from a large New Zealand law firm completed a survey on job characteristics, burnout (work-related fatigue), engagement and psychological distress. Regression analyses provide support for the strain and motivational pathways of the Job Demands-Resources Model. Results suggest a dual focus on reducing job demands related to burnout, and increasing the availability of job resources to enhance work engagement, may help combat psychological distress among lawyers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]