High risk of burnout among legal professionals

Nearly 70% of legal professionals have experienced mental ill-health and 22% have experienced bullying, harassment or discrimination at work, according to LawCare’s survey of more than 1,700 legal professionals in the UK.

The legal mental health charity conducted a survey into the wellbeing of individuals working in law; the data represents the period between October 2020 and January 2021.

Most participants (69%) had experienced mental ill-health in the 12 months prior to completing the survey, with anxiety, low mood and depression named among the most common feelings. Only 56% disclosed their mental ill-health at work. Survey participants explained that they were put off disclosing their mental-ill health due to the associated stigma and potential career implications, and financial and reputational consequences.

More than 20% of the respondents revealed that they had experienced bullying, harassment or discrimination in the workplace in the 12 months before completing the survey. Higher burnout levels, lower autonomy and psychological safety at work, and higher levels of work intensity were reported among these individuals.

Participants aged between 26 and 35 displayed the highest burnout scores; these individuals also reported the lowest autonomy, psychological safety and highest work intensity scores. Legal professionals from an ethnic minority background, women and those with a disability also scored above average for burnout and lower for autonomy and psychological safety at work.

Nearly 30% of respondents ‘agreed’ or ‘strongly agreed’ that their work required them to be available to clients 24/7 and 65% admitted to checking their emails outside of work hours. In addition, 35% of participants estimated that they got between six to seven hours of sleep a night across the two weeks before completing the survey, a quarter said between five to six hours and 12% said they had less than five hours per night. The recommended amount of sleep is seven to nine hours a night.

Of the survey respondents, 88% were not furloughed and only 2% had been made redundant due to covid-19. Regardless, nearly half said they were worried about job security and nearly 60% were more concerned about their finances during the pandemic.

According to LawCare, among the most commonly offered workplace support measures were regular catch-ups, mental health policies, mental health and wellbeing training and signposting to external support.

Elizabeth Rimmer, CEO of LawCare said: “This research, the first of its kind in this country, provides robust evidence that the legal profession is stressed, tired, anxious, at high risk of burnout and that those working practices in the law that undermine mental health need to change. We want this research to be the catalyst for us to come together as a profession to create that change, to create a culture in law that puts the law’s greatest asset – its people – first.

“The experience of living and working through a global pandemic has had a profound effect on us all and presents an opportunity like no other to reimagine the future and make it happen.”

Chair of the Junior Lawyers Division Manda Banerji said: “There is still much work to be done in combatting mental ill-health in the legal sector but today’s focus, as we leave the pandemic behind and look towards new ways of hybrid working, must be to stamp out the notion that stress is a given that must be accepted, ensure the junior members of our team are supported, supervised and that toxic working environments become a thing of the past.”