The pace for many lawyers at the Ventura County courthouse is steady, often brutal, and it sometimes shifts into breakneck speed as attorneys hop from one packed courtroom to another. There are arraignments and hearings to attend, legal papers to file and clients to confer with.

This same scene repeats itself daily at courthouses throughout the state and nation.

Amid the high stress and incessant legal bickering, there is a dark side to the law profession. Well-known among attorneys, one issue is getting more and more attention — depression.

The mental disorder, which can lead to alcohol abuse and suicide, has resulted in a rise in the number of lawyers seeking help to deal with depression, officials say.

"The number overall is going up steadily. It's not a dramatic increase, but it goes up a little bit every year," said Richard Carlton, spokesman for the Lawyers Assistance Program with The State Bar of California.

Carlton said he believes that public awareness of depression in the legal profession has, in part, resulted in more attorneys calling the Assistance Program.

Last year, more than 75 percent of the 823 calls to the California Bar Association's helpline were from attorneys seeking help in dealing with depression, said Carlton. In 2006, there were 774 calls, he said.

When the helpline was started in 2002, 40 percent of the calls were for substance abuse, and the remainder were for depression, along with other problems.

The age range of lawyers who call is usually 45 to 60 years, with more than 15 years in the legal profession, said Carlton.

Attorney Matthew Guasco, president of the Ventura County Bar Association, said depression has never been a secret among lawyers, "but nobody stopped to do the math."

Researchers have found evidence of a problem ongoing for years:

n A 1991 Johns Hopkins University study found that attorneys had the highest rates of depression among 104 occupations.

n A University of Washington study in 1986 concluded that nearly one-fifth of all lawyers, or 19 percent, suffered depression, compared to 3 percent to 9 percent in the general population.

n A University of Arizona study of law students in 1995-96 found that they suffered eight to 15 times the anxiety, hostility and depression of the general population.

The University of Arizona's Connie Beck, a leading researcher on the subject of lawyer depression, said one of five lawyers is a problem drinker — twice the national rate.

"There is an incredible rate of drinking within that population," said Beck, an associate professor of psychology.

The University of Arizona study suggested that 70 percent of lawyers are likely candidates for alcohol-related problems sometime during their careers. This study found that as many as 98,000 of the 543,000 lawyers in the nation were problem drinkers who could potentially become alcoholics.

Beck said the issue of depression should concern everyone because attorneys must be in good mental health to represent people in criminal and civil cases. In addition, she noted, many state and federal legislators and other policymakers come from the ranks of lawyers.

"I think that we'd better care because these are the people who run our country," she said.

Been a greater awareness

In Buffalo, N.Y., an attorney who had chronic anxiety over his work that developed into depression began a Web site, www.lawyerswithdepression.com.

"It exploded after it was launched last June," said attorney Dan Lukasik, adding that since the media reported about it, he's received more than 100,000 hits so far. Many of the e-mails and phone calls he gets are from attorneys' families.

Lukasik said he believes that in the past five years, there has been a greater awareness.

"It's coming out of the shadows," he said.

Ask local attorneys why the levels of anxiety and sadness are so high, and there is a variety of reasons.

Jay Leiderman, president of the Ventura County Criminal Defense Bar Association, describes a highly combative atmosphere in the courtroom and a work environment that take a toll on the mind.

"You are fighting all the time. You're fighting someone about something — fighting about getting a good deal, and the best deal you can get for your client. And the chances are when you get it, you're fighting with your client about taking it," said Leiderman.

In addition, he said, the responsibility put on the shoulders of civil and criminal lawyers is tremendous. In a criminal case, a person's freedom is at stake; in a civil case, there is the financial stake for a client.

"The weight of (the responsibility) can be absolutely crushing," said Leiderman.

Guasco also noted the pressure. "You have an obligation not to miss deadlines or mismanage your caseload," he said.

Tough way to make a buck'

In addition to the burden of working in a system that is adversarial in nature, other factors are in play. Law-firm attorneys feel pressure to work long days to increase the hours billed to clients. Solo practitioners feel anxiety as they pay the rent, utilities, payroll and other expenses, and keep employees happy. Some say it can be taxing on the nerves.

"It's a tough way to make a buck," said attorney Joe O'Neill of Oxnard.

Attorney Monique Hill, a solo practitioner in Ventura, said business courses aren't taught in law schools, so a new attorney who goes into private practice must quickly acquire the skills to set up shop and build a clientele. She credits her father, who owned a fabric company, for teaching her how to run a business.

"If you can't manage your business," Hill said, "you're going to end up doing something else."

Financial pressures — in the form of limited budgets and higher workloads — also affect the public sector, such as the District Attorney's Office and the Public Defender's Office, according to officials.

Struggle to keep head high'

Chief Deputy District Attorney Mike Frawley said the caseload for his prosecutors can range from five cases to dozens or hundreds of cases, depending on their complexity. For example, Frawley said, attorneys handling homicides or white-collar crimes will get fewer cases assigned to them, as opposed to attorneys who handle misdemeanors.

Thousands of felony and misdemeanor criminal complaints are filed each year. From 2003 to 2007, felony case filings increased 34 percent and the misdemeanor filings have remained the same, he said.

In 2003, the office had 103 lawyers. Now there are 91 prosecutors, Frawley said.

Assistant Public Defender Steve Lipson, whose office defends people in court, said each misdemeanor attorney in his office ends up handling 500 cases a year, and averages 75 open cases on any given day. The felony lawyers handle about 175 cases a year, and they average 40 to 50 open cases.

Public Defender Duane Dammeyer said there were 49 lawyers in his office in fiscal year 2003-04; the office now has 54. There was a 50 percent increase in the number of criminal complaints the office handled from fiscal year 2003-04 to 2005-06, he said.

"I think it's really increased the stress level," Dammeyer said. He said one reason lawyers cite for leaving that office is the "overwhelming case-load."

Many people assume that a law degree is an instant ticket to a high salary and prestige, according to Leiderman.

"It's not quite the fun and glamour it has been made out to be on TV and the movies," said Leiderman. "Most of the time, it's a struggle to keep your head up high and get through it."

Attorney Victor Salas of Ventura said there are very few good days in the law profession, and those are often offset by cases where things didn't go as well.

"It doesn't let up. It's just like being a hamster on a treadmill," he said.

His key to running a successful law practice is leaving the work at the office at the end of the day and exercising "religiously" to ward off the stress, he said.

Work stress that follows a person home can cause family problems, he said.

The profession seems to be a magnet for people who are very focused, competitive and driven to achieve a high level of expectations for clients, the county bar association's Guasco said.

Combine this with the high stress, heavy workload and a work environment that makes demands on time, and it can be mentally unhealthy, he said.

"This is not a good (working) atmosphere," Guasco said. "The people who are the most demanding are the people (lawyers) themselves."