“Battered Banker Syndrome,” I thought. “Is that a thing? Because if it is, will we start hearing about “Battered Lawyer Syndrome?” and “Battered Articling Student Syndrome?”
Some readers will know immediately what I am talking about—those of you who watch Law and Order. I have a long history with Law and Order. It was my sanity restorer for the quiet time after my children were finally asleep in the 1990s. While content can be disturbing, it is still a source of comfort, and fascination, for me.
In fact, at the Calgary Bar Association KC Dinner last March, where the amazing Alison Sears roasted about 100 new appointees, my slide featured a picture of Jack McCoy, the DA played by Sam Waterson for decades as my friend who was supplying stories about me told her that I say that I learned most of what I know about law from Mr. McCoy and cronies. It’s true—I can yell out “fruit of the poisoned tree” when the NYPD detectives conduct a search that isn’t quite kosher.
And I have blogged about Law and Order, and Jack McCoy, previously—in the context of bottles of Scotch kept in the bottom drawer for stress relief purposes. My estimation of my idol plummeted at that one.
But Jack McCoy has finally retired, and Executive Assistant DA Nolan Price is trying a murder case against a young investment banker who savagely murders his boss. Current DA--- played by Tony Goldwyn—is unusually absent (maybe he is off reviving Team Fitz for old Scandal fans…). The evidence (legally obtained) is clear that our I-banker engaged in the actus reus that caused the death of the boss, but the prosecution team of Mr. Price and ADA Sam Maroun are surprised when defense counsel utters the words “battered banker syndrome.” Counsel quickly appear in chambers where the presiding judge allows the defense to proceed on the basis that the jury will determine whether this new extension of “battered wife syndrome” is legitimate.
The defense then proceeds to call witnesses to the abuse perpetuated on the accused by the decedent who was repeatedly told that he wasn’t allowed to go home until a deal was done and threats of termination with a bit of violence thrown in for good measure. And then the coup de grace: defense counsel calls a man whose son died at his desk at the same firm under similar circumstances. The son had the flu but insisted that he could not leave work until a deal was in place.
I was shocked—would I want someone who hadn’t slept for 48 hours and was running a fever doing anything on a file of mine? And while I have heard horror stories from articling students and junior lawyers about abusive and degrading workplaces, no one, to my knowledge, was working while ill to the point of dying in the trenches.
I am not going to comment on the outcome, but there is an excellent discussion about a different syndrome, Imposter Syndrome, and how it may have factored in. I continued to be struck by how easily the episode could have focused on lawyers instead of investment bankers, a profession that is even more soulless and driven almost exclusively by maximizing profits.
Should we be concerned about potential Battered Lawyer Syndrome? Like everything in the natural world, there would seem to be a continuum of abuse that can lead to Abused Person Syndrome, the more inclusive term which has replaced “Battered Wife Syndrome.” One key feature would seem to be that the abuse recipient doesn’t believe they can leave.
It is easy for lawyers who have not experienced abuse to say that an abused lawyer can always resign, but life isn’t that simple. When people are abused, their sense of self can be destroyed, and they can be disempowered from leaving, just like the stereotypical battered spouse. And the group at greatest risk is probably articling students who frequently feel that they have no choice but to stay in an abusive position so that they can get called to the bar.
Within the articling student cohort, individuals have different profiles.
We hear about articling students, particularly internationally trained lawyers, attempting to article for 12 months without pay out of desperation. The fact that we have articling students who are desperate enough to article for free illustrates this vulnerability—and once you adopt the mindset that you are just going to put your head down and get through the twelve months so you have a chance to work in your profession, you will try to survive even if it means putting up with unacceptable conduct on the part of a principal.
Now, very few abusive articling student or law jobs are going to result in either the death of the boss or the worker—this is an extreme example. However, I would hope that the bar we set for supervising lawyers would be higher than merely not abusing workers or working them to death. And Assist, unfortunately, does not have the power or the mandate to deal with poor lawyer behavior.
So, we go where we can and do what we do best: we provide support and resources to articling students and lawyers who are in difficult situations, without judgment. Articling students and lawyers are adults who are entitled to make their own choices regarding challenging work roles, but when they need help, we are here.
The challenge is making sure that all articling students (since they are the most vulnerable given the 12-month articling hurdle) are aware that we are here to help.
According to the Law Society, about 30% of Alberta articling students receive their training outside of Canada (page 82) and individuals who completed PREP without obtaining an articling position had the lowest level of knowledge about Alberta’s lawyer assistance program (Assist)—see page 62
Anecdotally, we know that most of the individuals who complete PREP without securing an articling position appear to be internationally trained lawyers, but not exclusively.
This is why Assist is gearing up to conduct our 2025-26 Articling Student Callout. Last week, we posted our first recruitment poster in our newsletter. We will also be emailing our current roster of peer support volunteers to ask for callers. In this program, a team of about 70 lawyers will call about 10 students each to ask how the student is doing and if they need any assistance. Historically, most students will say that they are okay, but they appreciate the call, however, we always find a few students who are greatly distressed who we then link with resources.
And while the program is designed as a single call, sometimes a longer-term connection arises. One of our Callout volunteers received a call from a student they had called three years before who saved the caller’s contact info in case they needed help in the future!
I am thrilled that since we ran our recruitment poster last week, four new volunteers have come forward. I hope that we will continue to see new volunteers come forward—we will conduct a one-hour training session for volunteers in early January with calls being made in late January or February. Most calls are quite short, so if you think you can spare a couple of hours to help articling students know that there are lawyers who care and how to access resources, please sign up!
We won’t know whether a call from an Assist volunteer would save an articling student on the brink of Battered Articling Student Syndrome—but you will know that you are offering support to a vulnerable colleague during a challenging period, and that both the student, their friends and family and the Assist community will be grateful.
Does life imitate art? I hope not when it comes to abused employees reaching their breaking point. Let’s work together on reaching out and ensuring that articling students know we are here to help and that we care.
Loraine.
Battered Banker Syndrome” and “Battered Lawyer Syndrome
