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The New Safety and Wellness Committee
The Council of the New Zealand Bar Association | Ngā Ahorangi Motuhake o te Ture recently split our Membership and Wellbeing Committee by establishing a standing committee for Safety and Wellness. This article explains why the Bar Council created this committee.
Chaired by NZBA Council Member, Sarah Jerebine (Bankside Chambers), the Safety and Wellness Committee explores and promotes initiatives designed to promote the wellness and safety of our barristers inside and outside the courtroom. This includes hearing from our barristers, gathering information, establishing and promoting safety and wellness strategies, organising webinars, training, and online resources, and speaking to stakeholders to pursue and promote systemic change.
The current focus of the Committee is to understand and address:
bullying, aggressive and threatening behaviour experienced in the workplace, including in the courtroom, and including by others in the profession and by clients;
burnout and taking care of wairua (spirit and soul); and
courtroom safety.
The Bar Council created the committee because the evidence showed greater risks to barristers in their practices. By having the committee focus on the key wellbeing and safety drivers, the Bar Association will be better placed to respond.
Practising Well – the challenge
Several recent reports have highlighted the challenges faced by legal professionals, including barristers, in maintaining their mental health and overall wellbeing. A 2023 Law Society1 survey found that of the lawyers surveyed:
57% find their job very stressful, with higher stress levels among barristers in chambers (68%) and barristers sole (67%). Those in criminal law (69%), family law (69%), and civil litigation (59%) report higher stress compared to other lawyers.
39% feel they are working under unrealistic time pressures. Again, this is higher in criminal (50%) and family (46%) law.
Only 52% of barristers sole feel that their stress is appropriately managed, with criminal and family lawyers reporting lower rates.
Barristers work in an environment of high stress, which is often compounded by the pressure to perform and the adversarial nature of legal work. Younger barristers and those in the early stages of their careers can be more vulnerable to these impacts.
The report shows a high level of stress among barristers but also a high level of job satisfaction. However, there remains concern about the figures relating to the management of stress and the reporting and management of harassment and bullying.
The Safety and Wellness Committee will proactively educate members about the root causes of these problems and highlight the tools needed to manage lawyer wellbeing better.
Safety Issues
In recent times, there have been several physical attacks on, and threats made to, lawyers. Organisations such as the Bar Association are committed to advocating for greater safety for its members when carrying out their duties. All indications are that threats and physical violence from clients or opposing parties (or their families) are increasing, and our members have reported feeling vulnerable and unsafe within and around court buildings.
Put simply, the security measures in some court buildings may not be sufficient to prevent violent incidents. Some problems include inadequate security screening processes, limited security personnel, emergency response times, lack of cameras in lifts, and inherent safety risks in the court premises design such as frosted windows on the interview rooms. The new committee would like to work with all stakeholders to improve safety protocols and support systems to protect legal professionals in their workplace.
1New Zealand Law Society, 2023 Workplace Environment Survey (Workplace-Environment-Survey-2023/Legal-Workplace-Environment-Survey-FINALReport-17.10.2023.pdf) accessed December 2024.
