Reed Smith is the latest Big Law firm to implement health and wellness programs to combat thestresses often linked with life in the legalprofession.

At the beginning of the month, the firm launched Wellness Works,a firmwide program that aims to support, promote and sustain the well-being of itslawyers and staff.

The number of articles and press coverage surrounding thereality of workplace stresses and stress management issuesare not unique to the legal profession, but they happen withgreater frequency, and this caught the attention of the firm, saidCasey Ryan, Reed Smith’s global head of legal personnel and amember of its senior management team.

“We sat down, and we started to think how can we help to carefor our people and how can we encourage our profession to take careof themselves,” Ryan said.

After six months of planning, the firm created its wellnessprogram in January with kickoff events in each of its 27 offices.The program is built upon four pillars: Stress reduction,mindfulness, work-life balance and health and wellness. Eachquarter the firm will have an expert speaker come in and talk aboutthese issues on a firmwide basis.

Reed Smith also created an entire page on its internal networkdedicated to providing articles and resources to its 1,536 lawyersand staff. Ryan said the firm is also planning a variety ofinteroffice events, such as a 5-K race between Reed Smith’s LosAngeles and San Francisco offices to drum up support for theinitiative.

“The legal professional, it is individual and person dependent,”Ryan said. “And so if you have your lawyers operating at theirbest, at their highest potential, then it’s better for them, it’sbetter for the client [and] it’s better for the firm.”

The launch of the wellness endeavor comes after the widow ofSteward Dolin, a former Reed Smith partner who committed suicide in2010, was awarded $3 million by a federal jury in April 2016as a result of her suit against GlaxoSmithKline. The six-weektrial, which saw the pharmaceutical giant ultimately held liablefor the alleged side-effects of a generic version of theantidepressant Paxil, also shed light on the personal stress andanxiety of life in Big Law. (The case is currently on appeal.)

A spokeswoman for Reed Smith, however, said there is no linkbetween the firm’s recent launch of its wellness program andDolin’s trial.

“I think all law firms are interested in caring for theirprofessionals and this coming out of a sincere interest in takingcare of your folks,” Ryan said.

Reed Smith, which also launched a new mothers’ initiative last spring, is joiningan increasing number of large firms implementing workplace wellnessprograms.

Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld launched its “Be Well” initiative in 2016, in partnershipwith performance company Aduro Inc., which provides its employeeswith on-site health screenings and access to a personal health careadvocate, as well as access to other programs geared towardparenting support and financial well-being.

And this year, Akin Gump expanded the program to its U.S.-basedemployees’ spouses, giving them access to the same resources,activities and tools that firm employees use in an effort to expandtheir “Be Well” community.