By: Felicia Bennett, Holloran Center Coordinator

Eric W. Shannon, Associate Dean for Student Services & Adjunct Professor at St. John’s University School of Law, recently published an article in the University of Alabama’s Journal of the Legal Profession, Volume 49:1. This article, titled “In-House Counsel(or): The Case for Providing Integrated Mental Health Support Services to Law Students,” develops an argument around the responsibility of law schools for providing mental health support for their students.

In this article, Dean Shannon advocates for the importance of an integrated mental health professional (IMHP) that can support law students with the specific struggles they face as they prepare to enter a high-demand profession. He mentions the need for addressing ABA Standard 303(b)’s call for the development of a professional identity, which also includes the development of well-being practices. Dean Shannon explores court cases which relate to the need for counseling resources, explores the benefits of the IMHP model, and offers suggestions for schools that do not have the resources to follow this model.

The abstract of the article follows:

While some American law schools currently provide onsite mental health support services to their student populations, many still do not. This essay is the first to argue that all law schools should provide onsite mental health support services to their students—ideally, by way of a mental health professional integrated within the law school’s staff (an “integrated mental health professional,” or “IMHP”) who is familiar not only with the unique pressures of law school generally, but also with the school-specific environment. It explores current data on law student well-being as well as external considerations including ABA recommendations and standards for law schools related to mental health and wellness; the trend at law schools nationwide toward adopting IMHPs; and the risk of legal liability that can be mitigated by having an IMHP. It then describes the unique student support benefits yielded by adoption of the IMHP model. It concludes with recommendations for student affairs professionals at law schools that are unable to create an IMHP position.

We highly encourage any schools that are looking to build out a more robust mental health and wellness program to read this article as a starting point for thinking about how to better serve their students.

You can find the full article on SSRN. Please reach out to Eric Shannon at shannoe1@stjohns.edu with any questions or comments.

Associate Dean for Student Services and Adjunct Professor, St. John’s University School of Law; Cornell University, B.S.; Fordham University, M.S.T.; NYU School of Law, J.D.