The Boutique Lawyer Show: Mental health considerations in criminal law

By its very nature, criminal law sees a greater prevalence of mental health issues than most other practice areas, requiring many lawyers in this space to be “quasi mental health practitioners” as well as legal service providers. Managing this, on top of vicarious trauma, can be trying. On this episode of The Boutique Lawyer Show, host Jerome Doraisamy is joined by Dowson Turco Lawyers partner Nicholas Stewart to reflect on the myriad mental health concerns that affect criminal law clients and vulnerable communities in Australia, how such health issues have been exacerbated during the age of coronavirus and how these issues have changed the nature of legal service delivery in this time, and the extent to which criminal lawyers are required to go above and beyond in their care for the wellbeing of clients. Mr Stewart also discusses the scourge of vicarious trauma, the difficulty criminal lawyers may have in working remotely from clients, how change can be effected in being able to better cater to mental health concerns, and how the past two years have changed his perspective on what it means to be a good criminal lawyer. If you like this episode, show your support by rating us or leaving a review on Apple Podcasts (The Lawyers Weekly Show) and by following Lawyers Weekly on social media: Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.   If you have any questions about what you heard today, any topics of interest you have in mind, or if you'd like to lend your voice to the show, email editor@lawyersweekly.com.au for more insights!