STRESS. SOMETHING LAW FIRMS WANT PASSIONATELY TO ADDRESSOR JUST ANOTHER TICK BOX EXERCISE?

STRESS. SOMETHING LAW FIRMS WANT PASSIONATELY TO ADDRESSOR JUST ANOTHER TICK BOX EXERCISE?

The City of London Law Society Chair, Colin Passmore, has always shown a keen interest in the pressures and strains that lawyers face but has been concerned that the debate around mental health has largely been conducted with senior members of the profession, especially law firm leaders, and that the voices of younger lawyers were not necessarily being heard by the seniors. In an effort to try to address this, Colin devised an anonymous online survey, in conjunction with Roll On Friday (ROF), to reach its extensive readership. While the responses summarised below are apparently high for a survey of this kind, in context, given both the many thousands of solicitors working in the City and ROF's readership, feedback was given by less than 1% of City solicitors so, whilst all feedback is valuable, what follows has to be seen in the context of the small number who did take the time and trouble to respond and the fact that law firm leaders genuinely are trying to get to grips with and to address empathetically the challenges their lawyers encounter.

The responses painted quite a negative picture with 62% of respondents saying they felt unable to talk about their problems with senior management at their firms. The same percentage said that even though their firms provide training and / or presentations they did not find these to be helpful. A further 14% said they were not even provided.

Over 57% felt that their firms did not take mental health seriously with 75% saying they are not consulted about such issues or listened to.

There was a clear understanding by almost 90% of the audience that along with the privilege of working for a City law firm comes an expectation of working longer hours but over 92% felt that these extended working days had a negative impact on their health and almost 65% felt this was a subject they were unable to discuss with their firm. Well over half of the respondents said they would be willing to take a lower salary in exchange for less hours and only 26% felt earning City law firm levels of salary was very important to them.

Looking ahead, 85% saw partnership as something that brings with it a lot more pressure and, as a result, only 18% saw it as something that is very important to achieve.

Only 2% said they found it very easy to “switch off” outside working hours and, at the other end of the scale, over 40% are finding it very difficult.

The factors that seem to be causing stress are, as stated above, excessive working hours, unreasonable demands and, sometimes, even ‘fake’ urgency - these all come both from clients and management. The ‘billable hour’ is seen as another pressure cooker. Respondents feel they are on call 24/7 and, as a result, are suffering from lack of sleep, lack of family time, lack of free time, lack of down time. Not having safe spaces, toxicity, unsupportive management and a blame culture add to the stress.

To counter these stresses, some are using positive tools such as exercise, therapy and sleep. But others are admitting to turning to drugs and alcohol to self medicate; some are eating badly, binge eating and developing food disorders. A lot are planning their escape from the profession.

Only 2% said they found it very easy to “switch off” and, at the other end of the scale, over 40% are finding it very difficult.

Nearly all the respondents felt their firms did little more than pay lip service to mental health issues and saw it as a tick box exercise rather than a serious problem that they need to grasp by the horns. There were several comments about being told this was what had been signed up for, that it was part of the job. Providing yoga / pilates classes, free lunches and seminars are not touching the sides of the issue. The overall feeling is that management - and clients - simply don’t care. Nothing really changes, nothing is properly discussed. Barely anyone felt external bodies who offer support and help really make a difference. Overall dealing with stress is seen as something law firms say they do rather than actually do.

Most felt working from home really helped them and that coming into the office brought negative effects with it.

Whilst these findings are obviously concerning, as we say above, they need to be contextualised. Clearly 140 people felt strongly enough to respond. But there are around 30,000 lawyers working in the City of London. Not to diminish the importance of those who responded, Colin and the CLLS felt it important to dig deeper and to try and discover exactly what the situation is more widely.

Kayleigh Leonie is a former trustee and now Champion of LawCare. She is a former Council Member of the Law Society and was involved with the Junior Lawyers Division since she was a trainee solicitor in Brighton in 2010. She has always been at the forefront of the debate around the unwillingness of young lawyers to talk about the pressures and stresses they face and the negative impact these have on their mental health. In 2017, Kayleigh put out a questionnaire - similar in content to the ROF one - to get some statistics. This was really the first time anyone had run a survey in the UK into this and talked about it at a national level.

The statistics came back showing that a lot of young lawyers felt under huge stress and at risk of both suffering mental health issues and making mistakes at work as a result.

Needless to say, the legal press portrayed this risk of error as a compliance issue rather than a human one, but it did get people talking, thinking and, ultimately, taking positive action - irrespective of the motive behind it. Kayleigh repeated the survey, through the Law Society, for three years and the figures showed that although mental health was clearly being talked about more, from a statistical perspective, things were not really improving. The Law Society started to put practical measures in place themselves to try and help by giving people some of the tools and coping mechanisms they needed to better manage their situation. Kayleigh put together some guidance on best practice on well-being for law firms. She did this in conjunction with Nick Bloy, a former lawyer, who is now a coach on well-being.

Kayleigh is quick to point out that stress is not something that is limited to the junior people in law firms but is a factor that goes through all levels of the profession which was a prompt for her to join LawCare to assist with its Life in the Law research project during Covid. This research not only examined people from different age groups but also went beyond solicitors to include barristers, judges and support staff. Interestingly, the research showed that within the profession females at a mid to senior level and people with disabilities and from ethnic minorities were the ones who were most severely affected.

Kayleigh says she has lived experience of mental ill-health including anxiety and OCD - both of which she has had since childhood and which she has learned to manage alongside her work.

“A lot of the traits of anxiety and OCD are actually traits that are extremely helpful for a lawyer looking at risk and having to be meticulous. The two go hand in handso it is unsurprising that there are so many people experiencing mental ill-health in our profession. The rules constantly changing in Covid plus the lack of social interaction were both very difficult for me.” Earlier in her career she worked alongside someone who later died by suicide. Despite working side by side with them for many months, she had not realised the intense struggles they had faced. The experience is one of the reasons Kayleigh became so passionate about the importance of talking more openly about mental health. “I talk openly about my own mental health - everyone in my team knows I have struggles and take medication and that openness makes me someone that people both in my own firm and outside feel that they can go to and talk to. I am not a counsellor but I can talk about my own experiences and mentor people that way. Also, as an employment lawyer, my clients are regularly experiencing challenges with their employees who are experiencing mental illhealth so I consider myself to be the right person to help them navigate through this.”

Kayleigh does believe there is a genuine shift happening in law firms with people now becoming less reluctant to speak up about their mental health challenges. Junior lawyers are being told they should raise issues on well-being. Many firms have champions or mental health first aiders in place. Where senior lawyers are themselves speaking up and acting as role models, this is causing the culture to finally begin to change. But there is a long way to go.

“Law is cut-throat in nature and the negative stigma of feeling if you aren’t coping at the beginning, you may never make it is one that is hard to completely get rid of. City firms are dealing with high charge out rates and clients wanting everything done yesterday - but this is not true of all law firms so feeling you may not be able to deal with one particular type of firm should not be a reason to leave the profession altogether. It may be a question of going to a different firm. Some focus more on lifestyle, offering strict 9-5 contracts with no logging on after hours in return for less pay if that suits you better. There is flexibility now to find what is right for you. It is no longer one size fits all.”

Kayleigh says the very newest lawyers are much more confident in speaking up about how they are feeling and what they want and need from work. People take time out for preventive reasons - something which never really happened openly before.

“Current trainees are more cohesive and supportive of each other than in my day where we felt in competition for the same job and, therefore, were more reluctant to admit when we were not coping. Today they encourage each other. I think things are genuinely improving because of how young people are confident enough to behave. They will get up and leave the office to go to the gym or to a dinner engagement. We used to stay in the office until our seniors left. Today they are better at managing their priorities and boundaries. They are all about purpose, questioning whether this is really what they want to do with their lives. Being a partner is no longer the only option to having a great career in the profession.”

It is hard for partners to adjust to this new mentality. But, truthfully, do they have a choice? This means they have to manage clients better and to push back where necessary. Historic ways of working are changing.

Nick Bloy, mentioned above, originally qualified as a lawyer but quickly decided he was more interested in preventing things from going wrong rather than solving problems once they had materialised. He thought a move into HR might be the answer but realised that was not the case. Eventually, he set up his own business, Wellbeing Republic, almost a decade ago now, to achieve precisely that - to provide the means and support by which people can manage the pressures of the workplace before they become a huge issue, as well as helping organisations create healthier work cultures. Over 80% of his client base are law firms. Nick’s help varies between one off talks to ongoing sessions and / or one-onone coaching for however long is required.

Nick helps people to support both themselves and each other in teams and in organisations by creating cultures that allow them to flourish rather than flounder and fail.

His work can begin very early in the legal career journey; he coaches those studying for their SQE giving them skills which they can put into practice not just for their exams but for their entire career. Knowing how to prevent stress from

Law is cut-throat in nature and the negative stigma of feeling if you aren’t coping at the beginning, you may never make it is one that is hard to completely get rid of.

Workloads. Relationships. Trying to prove themselves. Imposter phenomenon is a big one - and one I personally struggled with. The weight of expectations young lawyers place on themselves.

becoming overwhelming is a preventative approach that is best embarked on sooner rather than later, laying the foundations for life.

What does Nick think are the stresses young lawyers face?

“Workloads. Relationships. Trying to prove themselves. Imposter phenomenon is a big one - and one I personally struggled with. The weight of expectations young lawyers place on themselves. And, obviously, the expectations of the firms on the lawyers to drive high performance - although, ironically, the excessive pressures lawyers often find themselves under, can create the opposite effect.”

Does Nick think law firms are doing enough to alleviate the stresses on these young lawyers - or is it just something they are paying lip service to?

“Obviously it depends on the particular law firm, but I can say that some are genuinely passionate about attempting to make a difference to the lives of their staff. Equally, at the other end of the spectrum, firms sign up to various initiatives and believe that's enough in itself to tick the box and they don’t need to do any more. As a result, the lived experience of ‘well-being’ for lawyers in those firms, is pretty poor. A lot of firms recognise they

need external support; even the ones that are doing a good job rely on external support to help guide them, hold them accountable, and challenge their thinking.”

How does Nick ‘prepare’ people so they don’t find themselves at the point of crisis?

“What drives our mental health? There are physical and psychological drivers. Take Self Determination Theory as an example. This is a theory of psychological well being which tells people that they need three fundamental things to flourish.

Firstly, relatedness - which encompasses both relationships with people but also how purposeful they find their work, does what they do actually matter?

Next, autonomy. Do they have control? At the junior end, the answer is probably not as much as they would like or need, but they can, nonetheless, tweak the way they do things or view things so that they feel that they do have more control.

Lastly, mastery. This is about growingbecoming more competent and confident each day;about moving forward a step every day instead of staying static and stagnating. Some lawyers might also benefit from developing a more optimistic rather than pessimistic thinking style. The latter is linked

to higher rates of mental ill-health. If you are aware of these things and you have the knowledge and the tools to do something about them, then you can ultimately reduce the risk of experiencing poor mental ill-health and decreased performance, while increasing the chances of actually flourishing and realising your potential, in a sustainable way.”

Michael Davison is the Deputy CEO of Hogan Lovells LLP.

“I think it is a really good thing that people generally feel more empowered to talk about mental health issues today. An important part that law firms can play in this is to create a culture where people feel able to say, without fear, they are struggling, whether that is with work or personal matters. Not all stress is work related, the causes are complex. At Hogan Lovells LLP, we have partners and people within HR who are especially skilled at listening - so we ensure they are there and visible and available to those that need an ear. We have on site counsellors people can also access if they prefer to discuss their issues with someone who is not actually a part of the firm. We bring in external speakers to talk about issues around how to deal with stress which serves as an initial step to show, as a firm, we are open and willing to have a dialogue. The well-being of our people is a major strategic imperative of our firm. With 46 offices across the globe, trying to create this culture everywhere can be challenging but it is something we consider fundamentally important and we devote a lot of time and resources into getting it right. This is a problem that goes from top to bottom and across the layers. It is not limited to one age group or type of person.

If we are completely honest, stress is something we have all encountered to varying degrees at different points in our careers and lives. I certainly have. Today these stresses are probably more acute than ever because there is a relentless pressure to work long hours and the sheer economics means that a financial burden is also inevitable. This has also been a high performing culture. We need to equip people with the tools and support to be able to successfully deal with that. The impact of Covid has not helped either. It took a big toll on a lot of people’s mental health and that is a societal factor that goes way beyond our own profession.”

Michael says speaking up about such issues is something that even ten years ago simply did not happen.

“People used to sit in silence - and probably drop out of the profession entirely. We have come a long way - but there is still a long way to go.”

Michael is a great believer in walking, alone, as a means of switching off. This gives him the space to be objective, dispassionate, to think more clearly. He exteriorises his stress by running and thinks interiorising is not a healthy option. He also feels that although commuting brings its own set of stresses with it, the benefits of then being with people way outshines working in isolation.

“A sense of community has a huge impact on people’s well-being”

Julian Taylor is the Senior Partner at Simmons & Simmons LLP and Caroline Turner-Inskip is their Global Head of Well-being. On meeting them Caroline’s opening words were that she was “full of cold and therefore grumpy” and Julian apologised for eating his lunch in the interview - both proving being genuine and open was not an issue for them!

Julian says well-being cannot just be a tick box exercise. It has to be important because law is all about talent, all about people.

“It is completely crazy not to care about the well-being of your people. They are the key element of the business and you want them to perform the best that they can. And, quite simply, people are only able to perform at a really good level if they are well. Very few firms would say it is important and not mean it. But there is a difference between having an intention and delivering. We felt it was so important that we needed someone at a senior level to drive this forward - which is why we have Caroline as our Global Head of Wellbeing. That doesn’t mean we have delegated it all to her and stepped away ourselves. This is not something that can be successfully achieved unless we are all committed and in it 100%”

Caroline says to take on a challenge as massive as this can sometimes feel like “wading through treacle.”

“There is a lot here. It’s about a deeper shifting of the concept of mental health. A deeper shifting of the concept of well-being. From a societal perspective, both of those concepts have been demonised. We all have mental health, good, bad and, most often, in between. We operate on a spectrum. Our view is this is a part of our business plan, not a basket to the side, not an HR problem but a thread to our overall plan. Why? Because it

People used to sit in silence - and probably drop out of the profession entirely. We have come a long way - but there is still a long way to go.

is critical to the success of our business. We view well-being as the foundation for great performance, for our people being at their best and supported when not and, also, very much about proactive prevention rather than crisis. We are committed to helping anyone in crisis and we have all the support in place but my role is to look at this from a more strategic business lens and not to push people to crisis wherever possible.”

“This sounds fantastic - and makes great sense both for the firm and for the individuals. But how does it practically work?”

The first step was to destigmatise and open up the conversation - something we are now seeing as a recognised requirement.

“This is slowburn, evolution not revolution, There is no magic wand. In the past 12-18 months we have been focussed on getting our people in a place where they have the language of well-being. It’s not a fluffy concept, not about bringing in a bowl of fruit for the team. When we look at how we embed

how we work together as a team, how our leadership functions, how HR interacts - this all has to be underpinned with a foundation of well-being. These are big, vague words. What are we actually doing? We have a whole wellbeing programme which we are rolling out. And we started with a focus on partners. Why? Because if it is going to be the foundation of what we do then we, as partners, need the tools and skills to look after our people. We are not born with these skills. We need to be trained. By specialists. We partner with a GPLed company called Smart About Health who know how to prevent burnout, how to spot parental guilt, in short, how to identify and lift burdens off people’s shoulders. We also look at financial well-being - here we partner with Octopus. Our junior people told us they have felt jettisoned into high paying environments with no support as to what that means. We give them a free planning session. We also, very proudly, are extending who we bring into the business. Our social mobility ambitions are huge. But, again, people may not know how to deal with the situations they find themselves in.”

Both Caroline and Julian feel it is incredibly important to remember that a law firm is more than just lawyers - the other areas cannot be forgotten. Champions of well-being exist in each and every Simmons office globally. These are fully trained to deal with the crisis elementbut they also get the bigger message out. Each champion has a sponsor so they do not feel as though it is just their job to fix everything but are fully supported themselves.

Caroline says it deeply concerns her that this “incredibly talented and hard working group of people” that make up law firms is constantly being told that it is broken. “Working in our profession is an amazing place to be. I get to interact with the biggest, best brains both internally and with clients. But my natural characteristics mean I am constantly on edge, waiting for the next disaster, waiting for a client to not feel satisfied and go to a competitor. Fear runs through us. As a partner group, we don’t have the vocabulary of wellbeing that the younger generation has and we need to harness that. Plus we have the characteristic of feeling when we do say we

“However much things have improved, it is far from perfect and some people - for whatever reason - will not be comfortable to talk about their problems.”

might not be firing on every single cylinder someone will then come back and say they are not going to instruct us. This is why it's crucial to begin any well-being initiative from the top down.”

Julian says whilst the taboo has not gone, it is beginning to dissipate. Partners are stepping forward to share their own problems. Some people will always be hesitant to speak up, but it is becoming more normalised.

“However much things have improved, it is far from perfect and some people - for whatever reason - will not be comfortable to talk about their problems.”

All anyone can do is provide an environment where they feel safe to do so. Relationships need to be built where someone can say they didn’t sleep last night, say, and therefore may not be at their best.

Yes, the legal profession is a stressful one. Yes, there are pressures, expectations, long hours, demanding clients and pressing deadlines. But the culture is changing in law firms to allow people to speak up, to say what they need, to be heard and to be supported. Maybe some are just paying lip service but the smart ones are taking it seriously - and they are the ones who will succeed. ■

LawCare, has launched its new "Life in the Law 2025" surveys and invites you to take part. Please consider doing this, either as an individual lawyer or as a firm - only then can we get real and accurate data and make our profession safer and healthier.

There are two separate surveys: one for individuals in the legal sector, and another for organisations, such as law firms, chambers, and in-house legal departments.

The surveys are anonymous and take approximately 10 to 15 minutes to fill out.

• Complete the Life in the Law 2025 survey for individuals

• Complete the Life in the Law 2025 survey for organisations

The surveys are open until Friday 21 March.