After 15 years of continuous practice, Mel Storey came to a realisation many lawyers reach only after it’s too late: the career she loved had been quietly wearing her down.
Speaking on a recent episode of The Corporate Counsel Show, Mel Storey, a former general counsel and now a keynote speaker and podcast host, reflected on how stepping away from the legal profession gave her a fresh, surprising sense of clarity and perspective on the toll that life as a lawyer had taken on her.
Reflecting on her 15 years of continuous practice as in-house counsel, Storey revealed how stepping away allowed her to finally recognise the hidden toll and burnout the legal profession had taken on her.
“I had practised continuously for those 15 years. I had a week or two between different jobs, but I have not been in that space for a very long time,” she said.
“I do feel like perhaps I was a frog in boiling water, honestly. I didn’t realise how hot it was for myself until I was out, and it’s just the littlest of things that really just make me go, wow.”
Only after stepping away from the daily grind did Storey gain an unexpected clarity, realising she could finally notice – and feel excitement in – the small joys of life, a stark contrast to her experience in the legal profession.
“I am getting communication of [some] really good things and happy, exciting, creative things, and opportunities that are filling me with joy and sparking a little bit of excitement,” she said.
“I didn’t quite realise that my lived experience had been the opposite of that because just the nature of the role had been, if there’s a problem, we’re going to legal.”
Although Storey had long understood, at least intellectually, that problem solving was at the core of her role as in-house counsel, she admitted she hadn’t fully recognised the personal toll of constantly being the steady hand in moments of crisis.
“I knew that intellectually, I knew that that was my job. I was good at it. I like to problem solve and be a calm head in a room where there’s emotion, and that’s the role,” she said.
“That’s what we do in-house. But I didn’t really realise the effect that that was having on me, I guess, as a human, until it was just the shift.”
She reflected on how stepping away from the profession had given her a renewed and deeper respect for the demands of legal work – not just her own, but that of her colleagues, many of whom continue to carry the weight.
“I have to say I have even more respect for myself and what I was doing and taking on, and also that of my colleagues and those who are doing it today,” she said.
“Because, my gosh, is it a lot to be that the counsel, putting the counsel in legal counsel for everyone in the business, for the executive, sometimes for the board, they only really come to us when they have a problem, and that takes a toll.”
Acknowledging the intensity of the profession, Storey encouraged lawyers to extend themselves some “grace” and to recognise the importance of self-compassion.
“Giving ourselves some grace and like, wow, we’re pretty awesome. Not everybody could do this. It’s firefighter, firefighter mode. We should be pretty proud of ourselves,” she said.
