Kate E. Jaycox, Minnesota Association for Justice

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In 2023, about a year after brain surgery to remove a benign tumor, Kate Jaycox went back to work litigating mass torts at Robins Kaplan LLP and being the president-elect of the Minnesota Association for Justice.

Her rare condition is known as acoustic neuroma. Unsurprisingly, brain surgery at the Mayo Clinic and the resulting after-effects have changed her perspective on her own health and the traumatic experiences of her injury clients.

She was away for several months and slowly came back in with the support of her firm, colleagues, family and friends. She learned more about her clients’ trauma and the secondary trauma or compassion fatigue that can pass to an attorney.

Jaycox said attorneys need to do a better job as a profession to take care of their clients, themselves and each other. That includes attorney self-care, training in trauma to support clients, and learning how to build a trust relationship that makes you a better lawyer, she said. “If we are not well, we can’t understand other people very well,” she said.

Jaycox has brought her personal perspective to share with colleagues at the Minnesota Association for Justice. MAJ has a wellness committee and a wellness retreat. She said that the MAJ is basing some of its initiatives on the American Bar Association which issued a report of the National Task Force on Lawyer Well-Being. She is also planning to partner with Lawyers Concerned for Lawyers and provide more social events for members. It’s important to talk about lawyer wellness and learn how other lawyers, some legends in their field, have had their challenges.

Jaycox’s health issues changed her life in another significant way. She plans to start her own law firm that will focus on women’s and children’s needs. She would not have taken such a change of course had she not had the health scare she did. “I am coming back to idealism,” Jaycox said.