The Role of Legal Education in Producing Psychological Distress Among Law Students and Lawyers

TLDR

Legal education is believed to harm emotional well‑being among law students. This study empirically tests that hypothesis using a cross‑sequential design. Four validated self‑report instruments were administered before, during, and after law school to assess psychopathology. Participants exhibited normal symptom levels before law school, but experienced significant increases during and after their legal education.

Abstract

The anecdotal literature suggests that the process of legal education impairs the maintenance of emotional well-being in law students. The purpose of this article is to present the results of a cross-sequential research design that empirically assessed the validity of this hypothesis. Data were collected, using four standardized self-report instruments (Brief Symptom Inventory, Beck Depression Inventory, Multiple Affect Adjective Checklist, and Hassle Scale) on subjects before and during law school and after graduation. Before law school, subjects expressed psychopathological symptom responses that were similar to the normal population. Yet during law school and after graduation symptom levels were significantly elevated. The implications of these results are presented.