Content Notice: This article discusses multiple forms of trauma, including systemic racism, sexual prejudice, microaggressions and mental health. Some of this material may be triggering or challenging to engage with. Please engage at your individual comfort and safety level. 

With many of us working from home for most of the past year (or more), we may have experienced some improvements to our quality of life – having more time with family members in the same household, the ability to work from anywhere that was safe to do so, and the modernization of our profession and the Courts.

Of course, many of us have also struggled to support our children with online learning, carve out self-care space and time in our busy households or to connect with those who do not live with us. Some of us may have faced further challenges if home was not always a safe and supportive place. As a return to in-office or in-person work appears to be on the horizon later this year and beyond, many of us are hearing from colleagues who express missing the day-to-day interactions of yesteryear. And while we often read about the negative mental health impacts of isolation and reduced senses of belonging related to remote work, for some of your colleagues, returning to the office comes with stresses other than changing out of those pajama pants.

Read Susannah's full letter.

Wishing you wellness,

Equity, Diversity & Inclusion Counsel and Equity Ombudsperson

To learn more about our office, visit Equity Ombudsperson – Law Society of Alberta.

To learn more about the reporting process, visit Complaints About Discrimination or Harassment in the Profession – Law Society of Alberta.

Alberta Lawyers’ Assistance Society (Assist) has been helping Alberta lawyers for 25 years. To celebrate this important anniversary, we interviewed Bob Philp, QC, who has served as a director of Assist through this entire period, to chat with us about how the “lawyers helping lawyers” movement has developed during this time.

Bob has been a lawyer in Alberta since 1976. He has served as a Provincial Court Judge, Chief Commissioner of the Alberta Human Rights Commission and Bencher of the Law Society. He received a Distinguished Service Award for “Service to the Community” in 2017 from the Law Society of Alberta and the Canadian Bar Association-Alberta.

Answer: Before Assist formally came to be, there was a group of lawyers in Edmonton, with a similar group in Calgary, who were part of the recovery community. They wanted to help other lawyers get to recovery. It was not a sophisticated model and was largely based on informal reports. For instance, a lawyer might have appeared in court intoxicated or acted out in an unusual manner, and then a couple of members from this group would pay a visit to the lawyer’s office to offer help.

There were two responses: the lawyer would either say “what took you so long?” or would tell us to get lost.

We were learning that many people with addictions had other underlying issues, including depression, anxiety or work stress. While we knew how to help people on the addictions front, we did not have the expertise to drill down on these other issues. We knew we had to bring in professionals with the right training.

Looking for a list of wellness days you and your firm/workplace can recognize? Check out the list below. Please note, this is not an exhaustive list. Be sure to check future editions of the Wellness eBulletin for more recognition days.