Mental health and the legal profession

If you're anything like me, as an aspiring lawyer you will have binge-watched the popular television drama Suits, in which the legal profession is painted as a glamorous life. Characters such as Harvey Specter and Mike Ross, not forgetting everyone's favourites Rachel Zane and Donna Paulsen, are shown to work from dawn til dusk, and sometimes through the night, through some incredibly stressful situations. This is society's current image of the legal profession. That those working in a law firm are the most ambitious and hard working of people, they are perfectionists and have meticulous attention to detail, and their day to day interactions with incredibly emotionally complex situations has no impact on them- work is their life and they love it. This needs to change. There is an increasing problem with the mental health of legal professionals and law students alike, and in 'Mental Health Awareness Week' I decided it was the perfect time to discuss this growing issue.

Unlike the image given in many dramas and films, lawyers and law students are in fact humans, with emotions, and mental health concerns. Crazy suggestion I know! For many years this was a 'hidden secret' of the legal community, that should be kept away from the public eye. Lawyers should continue to be seen as emotionless perfectionists, unaffected by the levels of trauma and stress they come face to face with on a daily basis. However in recent years there has been an increase in the uncovering of this secret, and the legal community has started to open up and talk about the issues they face. The 2019 Junior Lawyers Division Resilience and Wellbeing Survey highlighted the pressures and strain on the younger sector of the legal profession, taking a closer look at those starting out in their legal career as trainees and paralegals. Hand in hand with the research showing the increasing concern for law student's mental health and wellbeing, this paints a troubling image of the issues young legal professionals face, which will no doubt be expanded as they progress through their career.

Anyone that knows me knows I'm not one to shy away from a challenge, and I may be one of the most competitive people around- I know I'm not alone in these characteristics among law students and legal professionals! However, the continuing cultural stigma around mental health issues in the legal community, paired with the increasing competitive culture of law schools, vacation schemes, paralegal opportunities and training contracts, and in fact law firms in general creates a wellbeing issue which needs to be addressed. 

If you have had any experience within a high performing law firm, you will likely have witnessed the competitive culture, encouraged by the constant focus on productivity, high billing requirements and growth. There is nothing wrong with these goals, and I for one thrive in such environments. However I believe that alongside these all-important focuses, there should be a space for wellbeing goal, rather than this being viewed as comparatively irrelevant. The Open University's research, alongside LawCare, revealed that high levels of stress are common among those in the legal profession, and many believe this is a structural issue, requiring reformative change to resolve. The existence of assistance such as LawCare and other organisations, while incredibly helpful, unfortunately places the responsibility of wellbeing upon the individual, rather than promoting change in practices, culture and structure of the legal industry, which would be needed in order to resolve this issue as a whole.

In these ever changing times, we have been forced by a pandemic to transfer the majority of our lives into a virtual medium, which has raised some important questions for the future of our society. While I was already accustomed to studying online, with very little contact time, thousands of others have been thrown into this way of working with little knowledge or experience of how to stay well, both physically and mentally, while continuing to perform at their best in order to progress their career. When we begin to come out the other side of this, there will be long-reaching impacts on the future of law schools and the legal profession. At the heart of this should be the wellbeing of those who are crucial to our justice system, and how this time and reforms going forward will impact them. In some ways this time has given us an opportunity to reset, both on an individual level and as a community, and I believe that going forward we are able to create a healthier culture for our profession, which will enable us to serve our clients from a much more advantageous position.

Whilst I will continue to indulge in Suits far more often than I care to admit, it's time for the stereotypical 'superhero lawyer' figure created by these types of dramas to be combated by a reform for our community to pull together with a new focus of the wellbeing of our individuals. I'm sure we'll continue to keep our competitive nature and pull the occasional all-nighter, but we can do this while looking out for each other and ourselves.

Stay safe everyone.