The Ontario Bar Association applauds the Law Society of Upper Canada for establishing a new Task Force to Create a Strategy to Promote Wellness and Address Mental Health, which was approved by Convocation yesterday. The Task Force will make recommendations to Convocation, in a report by June 2016, to support a wellness and mental health strategy and enhance the Law Society’s effectiveness as a regulator.
Since December 2014, the Ontario Bar Association, under the leadership of its President, Orlando Da Silva, LSM, has been advancing an open conversation about mental health in the profession through its Opening Remarks campaign. Through a series of Mental Health Briefs, the award-winning OBA Mindful Lawyer CPD Series, and a summit on mental health in the professions, the OBA has sought to build a better awareness of mental health for the legal community and to connect lawyers with skills for coping and other professional supports that may be helpful to them.
Convocation’s decision to move forward with a strategy to promote wellness and mental health for the legal community is commendable and marks a positive step forward in bringing solutions for addressing mental health to the profession.