The State of Wellbeing in the Legal Profession
Both experts agreed that there are significant wellbeing issues in the legal profession globally. Carnegie noted, “We’ve seen the research that shows what some of the average hours will vary in different types of law firms. And without wishing to be pejorative, the American firms are particularly egregious in that sense.”
Moriarty highlighted the uniqueness of the Law Society of Ireland’s approach: “As far as we’re aware, uniquely, we have a psychological service built into the Law Society of Ireland, which means that we’re able to partner directly with workplaces and work therapeutically with individual lawyers to really kind of build high levels of psychological well being.”
Sources of Pain in Legal Work
- Loneliness and Disconnection: Moriarty pointed out, “One of the biggest challenges at the moment is loneliness. There are colleagues who are utterly disconnected from each other physically and geographically and in terms of time zones even now increasingly.”
- Perfectionism: Both experts noted the high levels of perfectionism in the profession. Moriarty stated, “There’s a lot of pain around that big piece around perfectionism… that kind of high reaching, high drive, wanting to get it all right.”
- Billable Hours Model: Carnegie highlighted the issue with the billable hours model: “These insane numbers of billable hour expectations are being set. And they can only be done if you work a constant six or seven billable hours a day.”
- Ethical Burnout: Carnegie mentioned the concept of “ethical burnout” where lawyers face challenges in maintaining integrity in high-pressure environments.
- Stigma: Carnegie noted, “Stigma was such a huge feature across, the bullying and harassment work and the wellbeing work that we’ve done at the IBA.”
Solutions and Best Practices
- Psychological Services: Moriarty shared the success of the Law Society of Ireland’s psychological service, which has expanded from working with trainees to serving all lawyers in the country.
- Comprehensive Audits: Moriarty described a project with RDJ LLP law firm involving a comprehensive listening exercise, leading to 40 recommendations for improving workplace culture.
- Policy Development: Both experts stressed the importance of clear policies around career progression, work-life balance, and support systems.
- Client Engagement: The experts discussed the potential for clients to drive change by setting expectations around lawyer wellbeing when engaging law firms.
- Regulatory Guidance: Carnegie mentioned the Solicitors Regulation Authority in the UK issuing guidance to improve law firm culture.
- Leadership Buy-in: Both experts emphasised the need for engaged leadership to drive wellbeing initiatives.
- Intersectionality: Carnegie highlighted the importance of recognising how well being affects different people in different ways based on factors like gender, ethnicity, and age.
The Role of Clients and Market Forces
The discussion touched on the potential for clients to drive change. Carnegie suggested, “Surely you’d want to see built into the contract between the two, some sort of provision around working hours and expectations to try and from the outset, to engage the client in understanding what’s reasonable and how your staff will work.”
Cultural and Regional Differences
The session also noted differences in approach to wellbeing across different countries and cultures. While some countries like Ireland and the UK are making strides, participants from Greece noted a lack of similar initiatives in their country.
Conclusion
The experts agreed that while progress is being made, there’s still much work to be done to improve well being in the legal profession. As Moriarty pointed out, “It’s not enough anymore… to just do it person by person. It has to be built into the policies, the practices for your people, and there needs to be regular checking back in on your perceptions level.”
By implementing comprehensive wellbeing strategies, engaging with clients, and focusing on cultural change, law firms and legal organisations can work towards taking the pain out of legal work and creating healthier, more sustainable work environments for lawyers.
