Stressed lawyer? You aren't alone.

The 2025 Law in the Law Report by LawCare - the mental health charity for the legal sector - was published yesterday. A funny coincidence that it was on the same day as the Legal 500 rankings. It makes for very stark reading about how those working in the legal sector feel and what life is really like on the coal face, and importantly some clear recommendations as to how to turn the tide. They interviewed individuals and organizations across the sector between January - March 2025. A few headlines that stood out to me:

- A majority (56.2%) said that they could see themselves leaving their current workplace within the next five years.

- Nearly a third (32.1%) could also see themselves leaving the legal sector within the next 5 years.

- Low levels of mental wellbeing – nearly 60% (59.1%) had poor mental wellbeing.

- At high risk of burnout (where people feel emotionally exhausted by and disengaged in, their work).

- Very high levels of work intensity – over three quarters (78.7%) are working over their contracted time, with nearly ten percent (8.5%) estimating they worked 21+ extra hours per week.

- Valuing people management – less than a third (31.3%) of people who managed others said that their targets or billable hours were adjusted to take into account the time they need to spend managing others or undertaking appropriate training.

Their recommendations include:

- Actively manage workloads and challenge the culture of long hours.

- Prioritise and value managing people including giving people managers enough time, targeted training and ongoing support and recognise management as a critical skill.

- Embed hybrid and flexible working options.

- Evaluate programmes and activities that support mental health and wellbeing at work.

- Legal education and training at all stages of a person's career.

As a practicing lawyer and a therapist specialising in working with professionals experiencing burnout, anxiety, trauma and stress, I will also soon be rolling out in house training for law firms to help start important conversations, and provided much needed support to staff, from a place of deep understanding.

Lets talk.