Lawyer Monthly - August 2021 Edition

24 WWW.LAWYER-MONTHLY.COM | AUG 2021 IT’S TIME TO END BURNOUT CULTURE IN THE LEGAL INDUSTRY as much as the number of lawyers who can sustain being a lawyer through their whole career while maintaining a healthy body, mind and life. Unfortunately, I was not one of them, so my mission now is to make that possible for as many lawyers as I can. Although the industry is robust, and it may seem like there are plenty of lawyers to go around, it urgently needs a culture shift now for any lasting change to happen. We owe it to all those who work in the profession to commit to doing this. A Culture Change Law firms do implement some good wellbeing initiatives. But while lunchtime yoga, some healthy lunch options and subsidised gym memberships are great and should be maintained, these are far from being enough. The change that needs to be made is deeply rooted in the culture of ‘law life’ itself and should start at law school and university. The culture is already endemic at university – the competition to get the most prestigious summer vacation scheme is brutal, and then comes the pressure of getting top grades to obtain the holy grail: the training contract. Law firms should encourage vacation schemers, all the way up to senior partners, to attend and contribute to wellness seminars, learn about wellness optimisation tools and techniques, and have regular check-ins with professional wellness consultants to properly foster wellness as a culture. Law firms are great at building presence at law fairs to attract young talent, so why not educate them about the benefits of proactively looking after their health from the outset? On an individual level, it is important to build and maintain healthy habits. This means that sleeping adequately, spending more time outdoors outside of in working hours, taking regular breaks, learning how to breathe well to regulate stress, eating nutritious food, practicing mindfulness techniques and exercising regularly, can have a significant impact on whether you thrive or burn out. Partner with fellow colleagues to implement these habits. Why not encourage a ‘walk and talk’ group instead of a sit-down brainstorming session? And push for regular wellness workshops so all lawyers are educated individually on the benefits of cultivating wellness for performance. It is about shifting the mindset around health and wellness from a ‘nice-to-have’ to a ‘non- negotiable’. Ultimately, a healthier lawyer can only be a better lawyer, and better lawyers collectively make better law firms! It is a win-win-win situation. The change that needs to be made is deeply rooted in the culture of ‘law life’ itself and should start at law school and university.