In this presentation, I will identify the limitations of self-care as an antidote to public interest lawyer’s risk of vicarious trauma and burnout, and propose a new framework, of seven empirically based factors, that allows lawyers to better gauge their individual risk. The seven factors that increase a lawyer’s risk of vicarious trauma and burnout are as follows: 1) gender, 2) prior history of personal trauma, 3) race, 4) high stress/high touch practice, 5) high volume caseload, 6) unfair office and 7) solo practitioner. An attorney’s risk increases with the number of factors, however, awareness of these risk factors helps lawyers make strategic choices to protect themselves and their careers. In this presentation I will also take the position that the current message of self-care as a solution to burnout is problematic, and identify four specific limitations: 1) Self-Care’s OneSize-Fits-All approach is too vague to be effective, 2) Self-Care Emphasizes Personal Responsibility, Ignoring Systemic Causes of Burnout, 3) Public Interest Organizations are Ill-Equipped to Support Self-care because of resource limitations and a culture that values “toughness,” and 4) There is no research about the long term impact of public interest careers and little evidence of the effectiveness of self-care strategies.
My article on this topic entitled Public Interest Burnout: Seven Factors that Increase the Risk, was published by the DePaul University College of Law, Journal for Social Justice Volume 17, Issue 1. (2023).