Well-being in law firms

Article written by Laetitia Ponde Nkot

A lately fact-finding by recruitment firm Realm Recruit disclosed that two thirds of lawyers confronted burnout as a consequence of their work, and that 21% have met some degree of stress, without telling of burnout.

Out of 202 lawyers, 57% said that an unmanageable caseload was the origin of stress. 91% said a more manageable caseload would be a top essential for them if they were to set foot in the industry, in contrast with  62% in 2021. 42% said that an absence of work-life balance was a principal hassle. 80% said that flextime would be chief in their next position.

Other frequent pressures for lawyers were bad management (39%),  and poor or unfair pay (31.8%).

‘Although wellbeing is more on the order of business than formerly within the law industry , the outcome of the research yet indicates that work remains to be done in this domain, declared Realm Recruit’s managing director Duane Cormell.

Nonetheless,  law firms are handling the wellbeing of their people more solemnly than in the past. 58% of firms now provide mental health first aiders, compared to 45% in 2021, and 54% affording free or aided access to a counsellor, in comparison to 47.5% in 2021.

55% of lawyers said that their employer played satisfactorily or decently a part in their health and wellbeing, opposed to 40% in 2021. 31% still sensed that their wellbeing was encouraged by their firm.

Many companies commenced to help staff well-being by putting money into preventive actions such as finance, access to a counsellor or gym memberships.

‘But tackling the reasons of workplace stress such as impractical workloads, flexible working hours policies, and poor wages will likely have a side effect, particularly in the contemporary cost of living crisis’, Cormell comes to a conclusion.