Stress still dominant as LawCare callers increase

More lawyers sought advice from the LawCare helpline service in 2015, with stress continuing as the most common problem affecting callers, the legal support charity has reported.

There were 907 calls to the LawCare helpline in 2015, made by 496 people. This is slightly higher than the 473 people who called in 2014. The most common issue callers reported was workplace stress, at 30% of the calls – though in 2014 84% of callers claimed they were suffering from stress. This was followed by depression (20%), disciplinary issues (12%), financial problems (5%) and alcohol (4%). Issues which made up the remaining 29% included ethical issues, bullying or harassment, gambling addiction, career development problems and relationship issues.

In 2015 LawCare began recording the number of calls to its helpline, rather than the number of callers. LawCare believes this gives a much clearer picture of how busy the helpline is, and a more accurate figure as it is not always easy to ascertain whether someone has called before. It also enables a caller who comes back with a different problem to be counted as a separate case; and it is in line with the way other helplines record calls.

Over the year, 65% of callers were female and 35% male; 39% were trainees or had been qualified five years or less. Scottish solicitors made up 7% of callers, with solicitors in England & Wales accounting for 57% and barrister a further 19%. LawCare's free and confidential helpline service is also available to paralegals, chartered legal executives and to lawyers in both Irish jurisdictions.

The helpline is at 0800 279 6888.