The New York State Bar Association (NYSBA) recently established a task force to review mental health questions on its bar application. Questions
The task force follows a February resolution by the Conference of Chief Justices that calls upon state bar admission authorities to eliminate mental health questions on bar applications.
The concern about mental health questions stems partially from the results of a 2014 American Bar Association survey of law students that found that 42 percent of respondents had experienced emotional or mental health issues in the past year. However, only half of the respondents sought treatment, and 45 percent responded that they feared that obtaining treatment could pose a threat to their admission to the bar.
Currently, the New York State Bar application asks if the applicant has “any condition or impairment including, but not limited to a mental, emotional, psychiatric, nervous or behavioral disorder or condition, or an alcohol, drug or other substance abuse condition or impairment or gambling addiction, which in any way impairs or limits your ability to practice law?”
NYSBA President, Henry M. Greenberg explains that the review of this question is an important milestone in the NYSBA’s efforts to help law students become healthy lawyers. “The idea that bravely and smartly addressing one’s personal challenges early on could have a negative impact on admission to the bar is not consistent with our profession’s core values,” emphasized Greenberg.
The NYSBA’s task force will include attorneys from different legal disciplines who will recommend whether questions asking about mental health history, diagnosis, or treatment, should be reworded or removed from the application. Members of the task force will be appointed by the association’s Young Lawyers Section, Committee on Disability Rights, Committee on Legal Education and Admission to the Bar, Law Practice Management’s Attorney Wellness Sub-Committee, and Lawyer Assistance Committee. The New York Unified Court System will also be reviewing the mental health question.
To read more about New York’s task force, click here.
