Time to say no, stressed solicitors told

Solicitors are working themselves towards an early grave, delegates at a lifestyle session were warned.

Solicitor Dianna Keel, a life and business coach, drew attention to the 'toxic nature of success' - the fact that career success brings with it added pressures and heightened stress levels.

Ms Keel said the profession was overly competitive, and solicitors frequently viewed themselves as failures for taking less stressful, non City-based jobs.

She said: 'The number one skill a solicitor can have is good time management - you need to know when to say "no"'.

Barry Pritchard of solicitors' support group SolCare said 70% of the problems referred to his organisation relate to 'stress and depression'.

The main reasons for the recent increase in stress levels are the amount of work generated by the Woolf reforms and the changes in legal aid practices.

One delegate told the session: 'Lawyers are three times more likely to die in their thirties than any other profession - we need to realise what we are all doing to ourselves and each other.'

Victoria MacCallum