Conversations signal rising awareness of secondary trauma in legal profession

Secondary trauma has been quietly impacting attorneys’ well-being for several decades, marking the legal profession with anxieties and physical symptoms much like those in the medical profession.

Also called vicarious trauma, secondary trauma stress, compassion fatigue or criminal incident stress by the U.S. Department of Justice, secondary trauma is the act of experiencing physical, mental and emotional trauma as a result of a professionals’ proximity to traumatic events experienced by the clients they serve.

While often seen as a taboo topic, professionals like Ashley Hart, executive director of the Indiana Supreme Court’s Judges and Lawyers Assistance Program, said conversations are increasing around the concept, leading her to believe that attorneys and other legal professionals are more willing to talk about their experiences with trauma and learn how they can support themselves in the wake of difficult client cases.

“I do think that there are people who think, ‘OK, if I’m not handling this well, or I’m absorbing this, can I do this job? Should I be here? Am I an imposter?’” Hart said. “So I think just understanding what it is and having conversations about it goes a long way.”

Statistically speaking, there’s very little current information about secondary trauma in attorneys as much of the data surrounding the topic is nearing 10 years old.

In 2017, nearly 800 judges participated in a survey by the National Judicial College that asked respondents, “Have you suffered secondary traumatic stress from being a judge?”

Of the respondents, 45% said they had suffered secondary trauma. The American Bar Association anticipates that percentage would be much higher if the question were asked today.

Despite the limited data on the topic, more legal professionals are talking about the phenomenon, Hart said.

Anybody in the courtroom

Hart volunteered with JLAP for several years before becoming director, and said the organization is seeing an increase in requests to lead presentations on the subject. While she can’t necessarily put a number on how much attorneys are seeking help, increased curiosity surrounding the topic tells her what she needs to know.

“When people are curious about a topic, it tells me that they may know enough to be dangerous, and they may think, ‘Hey, I’m affected by this,’ or ‘I’ve heard something about this,’ and ‘this sounds like my symptoms,’” she said.

In April, Hart will lead a seminar on secondary trauma through the Indianapolis Bar Association. More information can be found on the association’s website at indybar.org.

While JLAP itself does not offer direct therapy services, it does help legal professionals find resources for their specific needs. The organization also provides support groups for struggling professionals.

Most legal professionals who suffer from secondary trauma practice in criminal law, family law, juvenile law and immigration law, Hart said.

A 2003 study on vicarious trauma in judges published by the Juvenile and Family Court Journal found that in a survey of 105 judges 81% performed duties in criminal court. That same study found that 54% of respondents had duties in domestic court.

But virtually “anybody in the courtroom” can experience symptoms, including court reporters, clerks, attorneys and judges, Hart explained.

Lori Thompson is a paralegal in Indiana and told The Indiana Lawyer that she and many other paralegals and legal professionals experience the challenges of working directly with clients in difficult cases, particularly as a result of having sympathy toward clients.

As part of the Indiana Paralegal Association, Thompson and others rely on each other to help sort through the trauma.

“We get together once a month, and we share emails and that kind of thing,” she said. “So if anything’s bothering anybody, we can discuss it as a group.”

Those suffering from secondary trauma tend to each carry it differently, Hart said. But she notes that some symptoms are common across the board, including insomnia, suffering from headaches, feeling irritable and experiencing outbursts.

According to the British Medical Association, secondary trauma can also show up as bystander guilt, cynicism, feelings of detachment and overextending oneself to help a client.

Secondary trauma in immigration work

Christie Popp, a Bloomington-based immigration attorney and founding partner at Popp & Bullman Attorneys at Law, experiences trauma through client interactions and work-based challenges, she said.

As an immigration attorney, Popp works with clients seeking asylum from dangerous situations and survivors of domestic violence and trafficking. These cases can take over 100 hours each to complete, she said, with much of that time spent talking to clients about their traumatic experiences.

“Over the years that you do this, and you hear these stories, it really does take a toll,” she said.

Popp has been an immigration attorney for more 20 years. Through the years, she’s developed her own methods for dealing with the secondary trauma she’s at risk of experiencing and said she’s better off now than she was as a young attorney in the practice.

For one, she’s figured out how to compartmentalize the trauma better than before. She’s also opted to step away from certain case types when the trauma becomes too difficult to handle.

Popp has also established strict boundaries on the hours she works and what she can offer to support clients’ needs, which includes finding them resources that she can’t provide as an attorney.

And while she’s not immune to the emotions of the job, she also wants to give her clients the space they need to open up to her without her own feelings getting in the way.

“A lot of it is practice and just kind of maintaining that sense of composure so that they can have the space to tell their story without feeling like they’re hurting you or without feeling like they’re affecting you because you want them to feel safe to tell their story,” she said.

An additional challenge Popp and immigration attorneys like her have been facing is changes to immigration law on the federal level.

Popp said the past year has been the worst of immigration attorneys’ careers, referring to the tidal wave of changes in immigration policy enacted by the Trump administration starting in early 2025.

She emphasized how difficult it’s been to maneuver the constant shifts in policy and how it often feels like she and other attorneys can’t succeed in their efforts to help their clients.

“A better metaphor is like Sisyphus,” she said. “We’re just pushing and pushing, pushing, pushing that rock, and we know we’re never going to get to the top, because it’s all stacked against us.”

Outside of her own methods to manage the stress, Popp surrounds herself with other immigration attorneys who are willing to help each other carry the load. In the past few years, she’s seen more talk about how immigration attorneys can take care of themselves in the job and credits organizations like JLAP for supporting legal professionals in need.

Getting these professionals to talk about secondary trauma is an important step to fostering solutions for the issue, Hart said.

When giving presentations on the topic, JLAP director Hart said she typically starts with the basics, which includes defining trauma and how it manifests physically, emotionally, cognitively and behaviorally.

She encourages legal professionals to practice gratitude in their roles, including identifying small wins in their practice that can make the hard moments feel worth it.

Post-traumatic growth, a studied phenomenon that says enduring trauma produces resilience and growth, is another point of encouragement Hart offers legal professionals for support.

“We can actually become more resilient from watching our clients or the people that are going through this become more resilient,” she said.•