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‘We need to do everything we can to keep them’: LCA addresses mental health concerns in resigning lawyers
As mental health issues continue to escalate and more lawyers leave the workplace, the new Law Council president has addressed why the profession should be refining its efforts to support practitioners and create healthier work environments.
Naomi Neilson
In the wake of new research that suggests more lawyers are leaving the profession due to escalating stress, pressure from management and workloads, Law Council of Australia (LCA) president Tass Liveris said it was time firms established mechanisms for identifying risk factors and proactively reach out to their staff to offer assistance.
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In a speech delivered during the Law Society of Singapore’s virtual president’s roundtable to mark the opening of the legal year, Mr Liveris said that the profession could not hope to sustain talent “without sustaining individual lawyers”.
“I know I don’t have to tell any of you, but our people – our staff – are our most valuable resource and we need to do everything we can to keep them. We need to sustain them in order to sustain our firms and our profession. But we are failing to keep them in the profession,” Mr Liveries told the roundtable of bar leaders.
Mr Liveris added that a small number of studies had indicated lawyers experience more post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms than any other helping professions, including mental health practitioners. Although more research in this area is needed, he said, “we are becoming increasingly aware of the issue of vicarious trauma”.
This is particularly prevalent in lawyers who practise criminal and family law who, when exposed to sensitive information and material, can experience insomnia, emotional numbness, risk-taking behaviours and withdrawal from social circles.
“One of the reasons lawyers suffer more than others, like mental health professionals, is that those professionals are trained to deal with difficult situations – and we are not,” Mr Liveris said, adding that while continuing professional development courses are attempting to address this shortcoming, it may be time to consider whether adding law school curriculums could have “significant benefits”.
In his speech, Mr Liveris said there needs to be an emphasis on a three-tiered approach. First, firms and other legal workplaces must have proactive approaches to encourage good mental health practices, followed by reactive approaches that provide easily accessible services. More focused approaches will also be needed to provide support for lawyers who are experiencing trauma in their day-to-day world.
Mr Liveris acknowledged that many firms, particularly in the wake of the pandemic, have stepped up. Some have appointed clinical psychologists to advise on workplace changes and initiatives to improve mental wellbeing in their workplace, while others have introduced flexible working policies to support work/life balance.
In addition to these practices, Mr Liveris said firms should also consider the inherent risks that come with isolating staff, particularly as face-to-face time is cut back.
“More than ever, firms will have to establish mechanisms for identifying risk factors – which could be hours logged in or times of day work is being conducted – and proactively reach out to staff rather than waiting for them to ask for help,” he said.
