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The maximisation of income is now the sole prevailing ethos of a number of firms who view fee earners as expendable with little or no concern for their health or general wellbeing.

Inevitably senior partners and directors see themselves as working in a highly competitive market within which only the strong survive but are often unwilling to put in the necessary hours themselves preferring to pass the burden of fee earning to others.

Those firms that treat their staff well and lead by example from the top are unlikely to make the headlines.Unfortunately there are still some senior members of the legal profession who regard calls for assistance from stressed fee earners as a sign of inadequacy rather than a realisation that there is a genuine problem.