Plea to support ambitious LawCare wellbeing survey
A "groundbreaking" research study titled "Life in the Law" has been launched by legal mental health charity LawCare, ahead of World Mental Health Day on 10 October.
The research seeks to understand the day-to-day realities of life in the law, using three academic research scales for burnout, psychological safety and autonomy to look at the impact of work culture and working practices on the wellbeing of legal professionals. Anyone working in the legal industry, including support staff, can complete the online questionnaire across the UK, Ireland, Channel Islands and Isle of Man. The results will form the basis of an academic paper and will be announced next year.
LawCare has teamed up with leading academics in the field Dr Emma Jones (University of Sheffield), Professor Richard Collier (University of Newcastle), Caroline Strevens (reader in legal education, University of Portsmouth) and Lucinda Soon (solicitor and PhD researcher). along with Nick Bloy (executive coach and founder of Wellbeing Republic) and Kayleigh Leonie (LawCare trustee and solicitor) to develop the study.
Taking part will involve an anonymous online questionnaire which is likely to take 15-20 minutes to complete.
Elizabeth Rimmer, CEO of LawCare commented: "This is the biggest ever piece of academic research into wellbeing in the legal industry in the UK and Ireland, and we hope it will give us a clear picture of how the culture and practice of law affects mental health. The results will help us to improve the support available to legal professionals and drive longlasting change in legal workplaces so that people working in the law can thrive. We would urge anyone working in the legal profession to take part."
Dr Jones added: "This study is an opportunity to obtain important empirical data on the wellbeing of legal professionals. The findings will give us a valuable insight into the impacts of legal practice and legal culture on individual legal practitioners, raise understanding and awareness of the key issues influencing wellbeing and help shape the development of appropriate and sustainable responses."
Urging members to take part, Richard Pugh, Clerk of the Faculty of Advocates, said: "Working in the legal profession has long been thought to result in a poor work-life balance. In recent years, we have become more aware of the need to promote the wellbeing of practitioners, as well the interests of our clients. This study will help us to understand better where that balance should lie. It is in the interest of all practitioners, and our staff, to complete the questionnaire, so the research can be as full as possible."