One in three legal workers planning to get out

One-third of workers in the legal services sector want to quit the profession in the next five years, a major new survey has found. Legal mental health charity LawCare also found a similar proportion would not recommend law as a career, with half of all respondents saying they had experienced anxiety often, very often or all the time in the past year.

Key factors behind discontent were high levels of work intensity and feeling unsafe or unsupported in the workplace. More than three-quarters (79%) of respondents said they regularly worked over their contracted time, while 8.5% estimated they worked at least 21 hours’ overtime every week.

Nearly a fifth of law workers had experienced bullying, harassment and discrimination in the past year.

Elizabeth Rimmer, chief executive of LawCare, said the profession is at a crossroads in terms of how it protects and enhances the wellbeing of staff. ‘We have it in our hands to transform the way we work and build a future where people are supported to perform at their best and build sustainable careers,’ she said. ‘The path to prioritising mental health and wellbeing before us is clear. Now is the time for leaders to act with courage: move away from practices that normalise overwork, which risk driving people out of the sector, and take the path to a better future by valuing people management.’

The survey of around 1,500 people in the first three months of this year found a particular problem with preparing lawyers to be managers. Only 55% of those with managerial responsibilities had receiving training to support them in managing people, while just 31% had their targets or billable hours adjusted to take account of the extra responsibilities they had taken on.

LawCare called on legal workplaces to prevent burnout by actively managing workloads, rethinking targets and incentives and challenging the culture of long hours. It also wants firms to prioritise and value managing people and to properly assess whether programmes to support mental health and wellbeing are working.

In a foreword to the LawCare report, the lady chief justice, Baroness Carr of Walton-on-the-Hill, says the long-term sustainability of the legal sector relies not only on attracting and retaining people, but on fostering a culture where people can grow, contribute fully and choose to stay.

‘Prioritising mental health is essential if we are to build a sector that is inclusive, resilient and fit for the future,’ she added. ‘Those in senior positions across legal education, regulation and practice can commit to actions to make meaningful change.

‘The findings in this research challenge us to lead with empathy, to listen and to act with purpose. Our collective future depends on both innovation in how we deliver legal services and how we support the people who deliver them.’