Lawyer suicide.

As a recently retired Florida lawyer with an active license to practice but no office, I recently had a few letters to the editor published in The Florida Bar News and the Tampa Bay Times about the decline and eclipse of the legal profession, citing several reasons like legal documents and legal advice on the Internet, lawyer overpopulation, etc.

Lawyer suicide touched a nerve because several lawyers I didn't even know called me after reading my letters to the editor to relate their depression and frustration with practicing law and how lost and helpless they felt about their futures.

Most disconcerting and disturbing was having fellow professionals introduce themselves to a stranger and then promptly bare their souls to me. The term "spill their guts to me" is more accurate.

It eerily reminded me of office conferences with grieving people who had lost a loved one or suffered a severe personal injury. Those clients I could help, but the lawyers who called me, well....

David P. Carter

Seminole

The Bar and Dr. Weinstein should be commended for his March 1 article to help identify the risk factors for sufferers and their friends. The article...