Legal Programs Professional of the Year

By: WISCONSIN LAW JOURNAL STAFF//November 12, 2010//

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Linda Albert
Director of WisLAP, State Bar of Wisconsin

“Linda’s work with the staff of the Wisconsin State Public Defender began as part of a larger effort to study compassion fatigue amongst lawyers, specifically public defenders. Linda has coordinated the implementation of the compassion fatigue study with the investigating psychologists, the Bar, and the State Public Defender. But, most importantly and most impressively, she took on the nearly Herculean task of developing and presenting the training on compassion fatigue to public defender staff across the state. … We owe a special debt of gratitude to Linda for her dedication, care and concern for the staff of the Wisconsin State Public Defender.” - Deborah Smith, Wisconsin State Public Defender’s Office

Wisconsin Lawyers Assistance Program coordinator Linda Albert has spent a fair amount of time in recent months driving to 10 different locations throughout the state to talk to attorneys and staff with the Wisconsin Public Defender’s Office about “compassion fatigue.”

Albert is spearheading a study on the condition, which may afflict people who are vicariously exposed to traumatic events while trying to help others.

To the best of Albert’s knowledge, the study is the first of its kind to be undertaken by a bar association. It’s been funded in part by the bar’s Criminal Law Section and the Public Defender, but mostly it’s progressed solely by the hard work of volunteers. Her co-researcher on the project is Dr. Andrew Levin, medical director of Westchester Jewish Community Services in Peekskill, N.Y.

The message Albert has conveyed when meeting with the public defenders is compassion fatigue can be prevented when you take extra steps to stay well. But a critical first step is just knowing about it, and then making your own mental health a top priority.

It’s a longitudinal study; right now, among other tasks, they’re examining which measures are the most effective in remediating compassion fatigue.

Albert came to the State Bar in 2007, and has been in the mental health field for close to 30 years.

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