SOMETIMES ALL WE NEED IS SOME CARE

THE ART OF CALM

SOMETIMES ALL WE NEED IS SOME CARE

There are times when things get too much; when we don’t feel seen or understood. Perhaps we feel we are not good enough, that we are in the wrong place. It is easy in those situations to make rash decisions, to just flee, escape. But often all we need is some empathy and understanding, to feel validated, a space where we can speak freely and really be heard. And then, somehow, whilst obviously the problem has not disappeared, it may seem something that we can tackle and deal with rather than it becoming something that overwhelms us.

LawCare is the charity that supports and promotes mental health across the legal sector in the UK. It has been in existence since 1997 and was born out of an initiative of the Law Society of England and Wales. There was a concern about how much solicitors were using alcohol and a group was set up to look into this. The charity was originally called SolCare as it only was for solicitors and its focus was primarily on the abuse of alcohol. Over the last 25 years this service has expanded to cover everyone in the legal sector in the UK including CILEx lawyers, judges, barristers, trade mark attorneys, patent attorneys, notaries and people who are on the pathway into the profession like apprentices and those doing the SQE. Its focus is divided into two main sections; support and advocacy and education.

The support service comes in the form of a telephone helpline, webchat and email and is available Monday to Friday for anyone studying or working in the law - not just people who are legally qualified but also HR, business services etc - this is important as 50% of people working in

We wonder whether this is a result of the massive self reflection that lockdown engendered and people really asking if this is really what they want.

law firms are not lawyers. LawCare is there for everyone. The support provided is a safe, confidential space, anonymous if wanted, for people to talk about whatever is bothering them. People call about feeling stressed, overwhelmed, anxious, worried that they are not cut out for the profession. Maybe they are returning to work after being ill, they may be being harrassed, possibly facing investigation from the regulators - whatever the trigger, LawCare tries to offer support. There is also a peer support service where they are matched with someone who has been through a similar experience to provide some hope that whilst it may all seem too much right now, here is living proof that there can be light at the end of the tunnel. There is also a small fund that can help people in acute need to access formal psychological support - bearing in mind LawCare’s support is purely emotional. Because everyone volunteering at LawCare is from the legal profession themselves, they can instantly understand and relate to the problems. All of the volunteers are obviously trained to equip them with the necessary tools to be able to provide the emotional support that is required. There is a mindset a lot of lawyers share that spans from perfection to catastrophising; if there is a problem, they think it is somehow all about them. The reality is most often it is not. They need to see that perhaps it's the wrong environment, the wrong practice - talking and getting emotional support from other lawyers can help find that clarity. Despite all the progress that has been made in society around recognising mental health issues, in our profession there can still be a stigma about it - and that silences people. There is that background fear that speaking up may be seen as a sign of weakness, or is a barrier to their career progression. LawCare offers a way of speaking up - safely and confidentially.

Elizabeth Rimmer has been the Chief Executive of LawCare since 2014. She tells us that 2024 has been the charity’s busiest year even more so than during the pandemic.

“We are seeing a change in the kinds of things people are contacting us about. While stress and anxiety are still the top two issues, these are now closely followed by career concerns. This is people questioning their life in the law. We wonder whether this is a result of the massive self-reflection that lockdown engendered and people really asking if this is really what they want.”

Whilst it is crucially important that support is provided for those struggling, the goal is to prevent the distress occuring in the first place. This is where the second part of LawCare’s focus, that of advocacy and education.

“We want to do more around what good practice looks like for law firms so that they can be taking a more preventive approach to the issues we are dealing with. A lot of law firms are good at responding when someone is in crisis but by that point it's too late, the red flag is already up. We want to stop people ever reaching that point. We need firms to understand that some of our accepted practices can have a negative effect on people’s mental health - and we need to start changing and adapting. Healthy working environments and cultures lead to people being more productive and more likely to stay in their jobs, and better equipped to deliver competent legal services. In order to achieve this, leaders and managers need to be educated in how to create such environments. These skills do not necessarily come naturally. Just because someone is a good lawyer, that does not automatically make them a good manager. But they can be provided with tools, they can be trained.”

This work is crucial as evidence shows that the biggest support for one’s mental health is the relationship with the line manager. If you feel you can trust them and they genuinely hear you, you are more likely to share concerns early on and get the support you need.

To this end, LawCare is repeating a study carried out in 2021, ‘Life In The Law’, this time looking not just at causes but about solutions. The study will kick off in January of next year with the results being released in October. The study will be carried out by LawCare’s Research Committee which has two academics, one from the University of Sheffield and one from the University of Leeds and which has ethics approval from Sheffield. Four stakeholder round tables were run in the latter part of this year. All the main networks including Mindful Business Charter, Junior Solicitors Network were invited to take part to help shape the thinking and to build engagement. Burnout is one of the key areas the study will look into

as well as questions around what actually does work in practice in supporting mental health at work. These will allow LawCare to give constructive recommendations. In the previous study 1700 people participated and it is expected to be more this time. Elizabeth hopes the study will help build “a collective responsibility across the profession.”

Going forward, LawCare wants to widen its reach and wants to put a magnifying glass on legal education.

“We want to prepare people coming into the sector; to put more in their toolbox to help them have a flourishing and successful career. This is all about focusing on human skills. We would like to develop a set of resources and learning tools in collaboration with legal educators that can be taught and delivered in law schools. This would ideally be in person, not online. Recently the Guardian published a piece that showed how young people in the UK are way down the happiness index compared with their counterparts in other countries. We already know that 18-25 year olds in the UK are more vulnerable to mental health issues. These are the people just coming into the workplace, the lawyers of the future.

The artwork for this article is by Julian Opie and is entitled ‘Charles. Jiwon. Nethaneel. Elena.’ It can be found in Sculpture In The City.

It’s not just about the current cohort. We need to be creating environments which recognises and supports that new people coming in may well already have mental health concerns. A lot of workplaces are not as equipped as they should be. Yes there has been a massive shift. In the 1990s when I was a solicitor the attitude was ‘pull your socks up and get on with it;’ but now there is a generation coming into our profession who have a much greater understanding and awareness of mental health. There is more openness and young people want to talk about these things. The culture, values and purpose of law firms are high on young people’s agendas when choosing where they want to work. For firms to attract and retain good people, they need to have the right environments. Just look at our current Government, the right to switch off was one of the first things they looked at, and then the ability to request a four day week was proposed. There is a direction of travel here from the Government that is saying to the workplaces they need to up their game. I think this is just the beginning of a decade of change. If you look at Australia, they already legislated federally, across all states, that there is an obligation on employers to manage the psycho-social risks in their workplaces. Whilst it is implicit here, it is not enshrined. But the message is very much that whether you like it or not, the scrutiny around workplace mental health is only going to become bigger - not just from employees but from Government, from regulators, from insurers and so forth. This is the pressure that will ultimately drive the behavioural change that we seek. It is not enough to persuade people this is the right thing to do; they need to see the effect on the bottom line.”

Simon Davis qualified as a solicitor in 1984 at was then known as Clifford Turner (now Clifford Chance) and stayed there until he became President of the Law Society in 2019. After that, he decided it was time to do other things in life beyond working for clients. It was while he was at the Law Society that Simon encountered LawCare and very soon was invited to be a LawCare champion to promote the charity's existence and spread the word about what it does.

LawCare offers an absolute wealth of practical tips for lawyers at every level.

the first on the training pitch and the last to leave. But a wiser person realises that in order to be the best, it is not just about working the hardest but about building defence mechanisms that allow you to perform at your best,without harming yourself, about developing some “non-negotiables” which you will not give up on just to be able to work harder.

This involves identifying what you love doing outside work and recognising that when that external life is being minimised and even excluded by work - holidays and weekend plans are constantly being cancelled,you are seeing friends and family less and less and this is becoming routine - this is a key warning sign. That is the time to take action, to do something about it - and that usually involves spreading the load, talking to people and developing those “non negotiables.”

Alexandra Marks, CBE, qualified as a solicitor in 1983, was a partner at Linklaters from 1990 until 2003 and now sits as a Deputy High Court Judge, Recorder and First Tier Tribunal Judge. As someone who has always had an interest in and a concern about mental health, being a trustee of LawCare is a natural fit for her.

“Being in a City firm myself for so many years, I had seen up close how intense the pressure can be. I am a member of LawCare’s fundraising committee. Fundraising is becoming increasingly important for LawCare because, historically, it was financed almost exclusively by ‘subscriptions’ from professional bodies such as the Law Society of England and Wales. That model is going to be difficult to sustain - not least because so many firms are now introducing their own wellbeing schemes. But a lot don’t and the need for help is greater than ever.”

Mental health and well being in a highly intellectually demanding environment is something that is, today, talked about and understood in a way that it wasn’t when LawCare first began.

Our profession has got so much better at recognising and identifying the stresses and issues being faced by lawyers every day.

“Our profession has got so much better at recognising and identifying the stresses and issues being faced by lawyers every day. But the problem stems from the fact that the sorts of people who are attracted to the law tend to be those who are very self aware, high achieving, ambitious, place high expectations on themselves, are self critical, task orientedall of these personality traits tend to lead to a predisposition to have anxiety about performance in a way that outsiders would never guess. It is almost part of our professional makeup. Speaking up about anxiety and stress for people like this does not come easily. There

is a fear of being judged, or appearing to be weak, not good enough, not up to the job. That is why LawCare is so much needed.”

Statistics show that women are more likely to speak up about mental health issues than men; they are more inclined to ask for help. This does not mean more women experience mental health problems, but what it does mean is that men are more likely to eventually be overwhelmed by them because of trying to ignore them and not dealing with them.

We all need to speak up. LawCare gives us that opportunity. ■

To find out more about LawCare, to ask for support, or to offer your own support - be it your time or financially, visit https://www.lawcare.org.uk/