The unseen cost of justice: post-traumatic stress symptoms in Canadian lawyers

When the Lawyer Becomes Traumatized: A Scoping Review

“…Seven were empirical studies and two were dissertations. One study had a longitudinal design (Levin et al, 2012) and five had a control group (Leclerc et al, 2019;Levin et al, 2011;Levin & Greisberg, 2003;Maguire & Byrne, 2017;Vrklevski & Franklin, 2008). All studies collected data via self-reported surveys.…”

“…Levin et al (2012) reported such association with age. Female gender was associated with more symptoms by Levin and Greisberg (2003) and Leclerc et al (2019), but Goldman (2006), Piwowarczyk et al (2009), Levin et al (2012), and Maguire and Byrne (2017) reported no such results. Levin and Greisberg (2003) found that prior treatment for mental health issues was associated with greater symptom severity.…”

“…A history of prior trauma exposure in the personal life of the lawyers was also associated with the development of PTSD symptoms by Goldman (2006), Vrklevski and Franklin (2008), Maguire and Byrne (2017), and Leclerc et al (2019), but Piwowarczyk et al (2009) reported no association. Longer hours worked weekly was identified as influencing the increase of PTSD symptoms by Goldman (2006), Piwowarczyk et al (2009), Levin et al (2011), and Leclerc et al (2019). While Piwowarczyk et al (2009) and Levin et al (2012) reported no association between years of experience and symptom severity, Goldman (2006) reported statistically significant results.…”

“…Consistent with the DSM-5 diagnostic criteria, they defined PTSD as involving four types of symptoms: intrusive, avoidance, and hyperarousal symptoms, as well as changes in cognitive schemas. Goldman (2006), Leclerc et al (2019), and Levin et al (2011) all agreed that there was a conceptual overlap between secondary traumatic stress and vicarious trauma, and that these concepts could be used interchangeably. Sokol (2014) and Vrklevski and Franklin (2008) also noted a conceptual overlap between these conceptualizations of trauma, but, along with Piwowarczyk et al (2009), they considered them to describe distinct conditions.…”

“…Vrklevski and Franklin (2008) and Maguire and Byrne (2017) operationalized exposure to traumatic material based on whether the lawyers had been practicing criminal law and family law, but did not consider the level of exposure. Leclerc et al (2019) measured the level of trauma-related exposure as a tripartite variable. Lawyers were categorized as having none (0%), up to half (1%-50%), or more than half (51%-100%) of their cases involving traumatic material in the past year.…”