Newly qualified: happy ever after?

Working in law is your passion. You’ve gone through countless applications, assessment c e n t r e s , interviews, two

Marina Akram years of training or various exams and have built a portfolio to become a Qualified Solicitor. You’ve achieved your dream! Surely now, the world is your oyster.

Goodbye, Imposter Syndrome, Stress & Anxiety. Hello, Happy Times!!

Unfortunately, this is not the reality for many junior solicitors. I have personally spoken to many junior solicitors who confirmed that upon qualification their stress levels increased at an alarming rate trying to keep up with the fast-paced workload with tight deadlines, client demands and unrealistic billing targets, amongst other reasons.

Law Care, a charity which supports and promotes mental wellbeing across the legal community in the UK, conducted a research study in 2020/2021 “Life in the Law” which confirmed that those aged 26 – 35 displayed the highest burnout scores. This age group also reported lowest autonomy, lowest psychological safety and highest work intensity. Female legal professionals averaged higher burnout compared with their male counterparts. A staggering 69% of participants reported that they had experienced mental illhealth in the preceding 12 months before completing the survey. Of these 69%, only half felt comfortable talking about this at work because of the fear of stigma that would attach to them and the resulting career implication including financial and reputational consequences.

These are worrying results. Stress in the workplace can have an astounding effect, not just on your mental health, but also your physical health and can cause strain on other areas of your life. Therefore, it is vital that we, as junior lawyers, recognise signs of stress which can lead to burnout and address it promptly.

Of course, it goes without saying that the law firms we work for have a responsibility to look at the root causes of mental ill-health and stress by addressing workloads, how work is allocated, and ensuring sufficient qualified support staff are available to assist with the volume of work assigned. Not only that, but law firms should also provide constructive feedback in the form of a learning-focused, twoway conversation when addressing any issues with junior lawyers. This includes flexible working when required, support for growth and collaboration.

As junior lawyers, there are certain steps we can take to alleviate stress at work: -

1. Let go of perfectionism – While I am typing this, my perfectionist personality is rearing its head and saying with discord, ‘What are you telling them?!’ But it’s true. There is a time and place for perfection. When dealing with legal cases, complex or otherwise, it serves us well. It is something that I value within myself. However, we must also recognise that perfectionism has led to greater levels of disappointment and many low points when a certain situation has not materialised as we envisioned, leading to stress and anxiety. Therefore, figure out what really must be done nearly perfectly, and when good enough is, well, good enough.

2. Manage your energy and take breaks – Understand when your energy levels are high. Are you a morning person or an after-lunch person? Do those high intensity tasks when you are high on energy. Further, simple things like “not having any time to exercise or going to your swimming class, not being able to go for a walk or being stuck at your desk at lunch time” can lead to burnout. Take time to slow down, recharge your batteries and take 5 to 15 minutes out of your time to focus on yourself. This can be done by going for a 10-minute walk, a coffee with a colleague or a quick mediation session. This will not only help manage your stress levels, enhance your mental focus but also restore high concentration levels and alertness resetting you for productivity.

3. Be aware of your feelings and your triggers – Recognise when you are engaging in negative self-talk. There’s nothing worse than having self-doubt when you are trying to put your best foot forward at work. In order to recognise you are engaging in negative self-talk, you need to be aware that it is happening in the first place. You need to be aware of the patterns, triggers and feelings that influences your emotions. For example, a colleague/partner asks you a question in relation to an area you are not familiar with. You answer the question, and it turns out that it wasn’t the right answer. A person who is aware of their limitations and feelings will recognise the negative self-talk trigger and can stop it by using affirmations such as “I did my best and at least chose to give it a shot”. However, a person who is not aware of their negative self-talk pattern will continue to be stuck in a loop by repeating the same thing in their mind which is, “I am not good enough, I could have done better etc”. A simple mindset shift of being aware of how a certain situation is making you feel. i.e. angry, fearful, stressful, can improve your ability to identify and control your own emotions so you can choose a better pragmatic response in future situations.

4. Set clear boundaries for yourself and others – In order to avoid burnout, it is important to set and enforce boundaries for yourself and others. This will allow you to perform your work at a higher level. For example, your manager asks you to draft a letter to the client. Take time to ask your manager about the time sensitive deadlines, if any, seek clear communication and learn to say no if you can’t do the work within the time constraints. Alternatively, see if you can move around any other work which is not a priority to get the deadline done by the required time. You also need to set clear boundaries for yourself. Have a goal to shut down your laptop and step away from work at a certain time every evening. Of course, there will be days, where you have a trial, hearing, and deadlines all in one week and you just have to keep calm and carry on. However, that’s not every week or every day, therefore you should try to set some boundaries and prevent yourself from falling into a routine where you aren’t constantly burning the candle at both ends.

If you are struggling, seek help. Junior Lawyers Division have guidance on where to get on help on their website - https://www. lawsociety.org.uk/en/campaigns/juniorlawyers-division-campaigns/wellbeing.

Further, there are various charities and organisations that offer support to anyone suffering from mental ill-health. Law Care, WJLD’s chosen charity for their Malvern Walk event on 14 August 2022, offers free, confidential emotional support to anyone working in the law and you can contact them on 0800 279 6888.

Marina Akram Silverback Law