David Jaffe

David Jaffe is associate dean for student affairs at American University Washington College of Law. In his work on wellness issues among law students over the last two decades, he has served on the D.C. Bar Lawyer Assistance Program, including as its chair, and continues to serve on the ABA Commission on Lawyer Assistance Programs (CoLAP) as co-chair of the Law School Assistance Committee. Jaffe co-authored “Suffering in Silence: The Survey of Law Student Well-Being and the Reluctance of Law Students to Seek Help for Substance Use and Mental Health Concerns,” reporting the results of the national survey he co-piloted in 2014. He was lead author for the Law School section of “The Path to Lawyer Well-Being: Practical Recommendations for Positive Change,” released in August 2017. He also produced the “Getting Healthy, Staying Healthy” video that is used as a resource in many professional responsibility classes around the country. Jaffe also authored “The Key to Law Student Well-Being? We Have to Love Our Law Students” in the NALP PD (National Association of Law Placement Professional Development) Quarterly, and co-authored “Conduct Yourselves Accordingly: Amending Bar Character and Fitness Questions to Promote Lawyer Well-Being” in The Professional Lawyer magazine of the American Bar Association Center for Professional Responsibility. He says he practices mindfulness by being in the moment with his daughters whenever he can.