Stressed to impress - putting the legal sector on a healthier footing

Olivia Moore, Careers and Wellbeing Manager at the Law Society of Scotland, discusses how widespread stress is among lawyers and the key drivers that contribute to stress becoming unmanageable.

I am not sure how many people enter the legal profession expecting the job to be stress-free. I imagine it’s not many, certainly law students I speak to have reasonable expectations of the demands that a modern workplace will put on them.

The majority can cope with, and even thrive under, a level of stress and it’s actually when we’re at our most productive work wise. But we can’t consistently thrive under stress, and we know stress can be the root cause of mental health issues.

Insights on stress from LawCare

In 2022, 22% of people contacting LawCare had a concern relating to stress, which was the highest-ranking reason cited alongside career concerns. Stress has almost universally ranked as the highest primary reason for contacting LawCare in the 25 years their free, confidential support service has been in existence. So levels of stress among lawyers have been prevalent for a long time, and seems to be intertwined with legal practice.

According to LawCare, the stress that lawyers are experiencing is indeed often caused or exacerbated by a difficult working environment. I asked for some examples, and they’re wide-reaching, not attributed to one specific element.

“During 2022 people who approached us for support mentioned a range of additional factors contributing to their stress: isolation; lack of effective support and supervision including when working from home or to a hybrid model; difficulties in adhering to reasonable work/home boundaries or lack of respect of these from managers; being undermined after a career break; an unreasonably heavy workload; financial pressures; career concerns; the pressure of billable hours and targets; workplace bullying, harassment and discrimination; fear of making a mistake; long hours and sleep deprivation sometimes combined with domestic responsibilities are all very common issues.

To compound matters, many working in the legal sector have a driven, perfectionist personality that makes them more prone to stress. They often work long hours in pressurised situations and believe they should always be in control. Feeling unable to cope with work can be particularly difficult.”

LawCare’s Life in the Law survey also covered an important topic of burnout, which is closely linked to stress as it’s defined as the result of persistent stress over a period of time. In their survey they used a scale called the Oldenburg Burnout Inventory (the “OLBI”) to investigate levels of burnout among respondents. A score of 34.8 would indicate a ‘high risk of burnout’. The average score for burnout in LawCare’s study was even high at 42.2, showing how significant the risk is for our colleagues who are reaching out for support.

And what happens when people burn out? They are unwell, they might need to take time off work, they might become less productive and, ultimately, they may leave the business and/or contend with a serious mental health challenge.

Is removing unnecessary stress the key to getting some relief?

The Mindful Business Charter puts removing unnecessary stress at the centre of its purpose. The acknowledgement remains that the legal profession will always necessitate some level of stress. But how can this be maintained at a manageable level and how do we avoid consistency?

Some examples of the key commitments that signatories are asked to make are:

• Being respectful of others’ time by planning meetings properly (considering who needs to attend/give appropriate notice/setting clear agendas and objectives) and avoiding last minute cancellations.
• Where support is required outside of someone’s core working hours, giving them options for when that could be (early morning or evening/weekend).
• When instructing on a task, negotiating rather than imposing a deadline, being transparent where possible on the wider timetable, and promptly communicating timing changes which impact others.

While some causes of stress in the legal profession can be systemic and much more complicated to overcome, a lot of the time, unnecessary stress can be about making small changes, and communicating well with people around us.

Throughout April, Stress Awareness Month, perhaps it’s time to try and get into some good habits and discuss with our colleagues what comparatively easy changes we could make to reduce unnecessary stress and be proactive about protecting the mental health of ourselves and others.

I also recommend visiting LawCare’s website for all their resources relating to stress, including podcasts, videos, real stories and advice. And a quick way to get your colleagues engaged with Stress Awareness Month is to share some of these links among your teams.