Law Students Aren't Alright

Amy Levin (Loyola-L.A.), The Kids Aren't Alright:

The U.S. Surgeon General declared mental health “the defining public health crisis of our time.”  Law students are not immune.  More law students than ever before are suffering from mental health challenges, in particular women (the majority of law students) and underrepresented groups, and these challenges often continue into the early years of practice.

This Article brings together empirical research from several different disciplines to help explain why law student mental health is deteriorating.  The Article proposes the convergence of two events has caused the steep decline: the dramatic rise in mental health challenges among high school and college students pre- and post-COVID-19 that appear to be carrying forward into law school and the entry of Generation Z—the most anxious generation to date—into law school.  The Article also suggests that, due to these events, many law students now enter law school with mental health challenges, contrary to prior research indicating they develop symptoms only once they are in school.

The sheer number of students struggling today compels law schools to do more to acknowledge and address this mental health crisis.  This Article suggests meaningful steps law schools and professors can take—such as increasing substantive feedback to students and eradicating the grading curve—to address students’ mental well-being while at the same time maintaining the necessary rigor to prepare them for practice. 

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