International law firm Dorsey & Whitney is pleased to announce that the Firm has joined the inaugural class of signatories to the American Bar Association’s newly-launched Well-Being Pledge & Campaign, aimed at improving the substance use and mental health landscape of the legal profession.
The ABA Well-Being Pledge & Campaign, organized by the ABA Working Group to Advance Well-Being in the Legal Profession, is designed to support lawyer well-being and address the profession’s troubling rates of alcohol and other substance-use disorders, as well as mental health issues. Based on a framework developed by working group member Patrick Krill, the campaign’s goals are to raise awareness, facilitate a reduction in the incidence of problematic substance-use and mental health distress and improve lawyer well-being. From education to policies to culture, the seven-point pledge identified in the Campaign reflects the core areas on which firms should focus and the concrete steps they should take as they seek to achieve those goals.
“Through this campaign as well as our Firm’s internal resources and offerings, Dorsey is committed to proactively advancing health and wellness throughout our Firm and the legal profession,” said Ken Cutler, Dorsey’s Managing Partner. “One of our greatest strengths is a culture that respects the individual and is knit together by our core values of colleagues, community and clients. By committing to this pledge and embracing its seven tenets our hope is to provide a workplace that supports health and work-life balance for all our attorneys and staff.”
Dorsey launched its Well Ahead program in 2015, but it is rooted in over a decade of wellness programming and collaborating with professionals like Patrick Krill. Well Ahead focuses on three pillars of wellness: Physical, Financial and Emotional. Programming includes Firm-wide wellness presentations such as: Resiliency and Meditation, Sleep, Blue Zones/Secret to Longevity, De-Clutter/De-Stress, Distracted Driving, Benefits of the 401(k) Plan, Elder Care, Emotional Health & Wellness, Nutrition, Cancer Awareness/Prevention, and more. The Firm has Well Ahead Champions across its U.S. offices, and offices across the country host a variety of activities at local levels, including Bike to Work weeks, TED Talk viewings, recipe sharing, chair massages, virtual reality experiences, various Thirty (30) Day Challenges and more.
“Signing the Pledge is another step forward for Well Ahead,” said Patrick Lutter, Dorsey’s Chief Administrative Officer. “The ABA’s Campaign aligns with our initiatives and the importance of Well Ahead’s holistic approach to our employees’ well-being. We will continue to add new components to Well Ahead in support of the ABA Campaign.”