Well-Being Task Force

The WSBA Board of Governors created the Member Well-Being Task Force with the directive to research and provide a report and recommendations for tangible steps the bar can take to enhance well-being among WSBA members and the broader legal community in Washington. The Task Force's first meeting was in March 2024 and has a two-year term concluding in March 2026. The final report to the Board Governors will be delivered on May 2, 2026. 

Task-Force Charter

Workgroups

The Taskforce has met monthly to create an agenda, listen to national experts on well-being in the legal profession, and hold breakouts for each workgroup. Workgroups then have met an additional time(s) each month.  

The nine workgroups were as follows: Membership Survey; Law Students/New Members; Private Practice; Government and Public Interest Law; Suicide and Addiction; DEI and Well-Being; Judiciary; Member Wellness Program; and Court Rules and Regulatory. 

Each workgroup has included at least two taskforce members, as well as two-three ad hoc members or public members with subject matter expertise.  Each workgroup has met at a separate time(s) during the month. Most workgroups have met for four-six months and provided a report at the conclusion of their meetings. The nine workgroup reports will be reformatted and delivered as the Final Well-Being Taskforce Report. 

Surveys

The Task Force charter included the objective of a membership survey. The Survey workgroup hired Matt Thiese, Ph.D. from the University of Utah’s School of Public Health.  The survey included 41questions and received 900 responses. The preliminary findings are here

In addition, each workgroup was encouraged to receive feedback from the membership on each topic. Thus, compelling research results were found via the Law Student/New Member survey; the Private Practice’s survey; the Suicide and Addiction survey; and the Judiciary Survey. Each provided a compelling window into the struggles members face in different venues of the profession as well as institutional barriers to their ability to thrive.

The Member Wellness Program (MWP) has a mission to communicate out results of these surveys. The MWP presented on the topic of survey results in May 2025 during Well-Being Week in Law.  In addition, we will be presenting on this topic for our Peer Advisor Training in December of 2025. For our March 2026 Legal Lunchbox our guest speaker Laura Moss, MD., a taskforce member, will be providing survey results. Additional communications on this topic are slated for Bar News magazine in 2026.