TEEN VOGUE — Weeks before the pandemic first began to ravage New York City, New York State Chief Judge Janet DiFiore announced that bar applicants will no longer have to answer intrusive questions about mental health conditions or treatment to become certified attorneys in the state via the Character and Fitness application. Upon hearing this news, a friend of mine at Columbia Law School reached out to express her relief. Her fiancé, an attorney, had struggled with depression and eventually killed himself in 2019. She says he wouldn’t seek help in part because of the mental health questions included in most state bar applications. Law school peers often confided that they wanted to seek mental health treatment. Their confessions did not come as a surprise. On the whole, the legal profession struggles with mental health concerns and substance abuse addiction.