Law Training Centre collaborates with LawCare to support improving culture in law

We are now starting to see a significant change in attitudes to workplace culture, particularly as the new generation of lawyers are simply not prepared to give their whole life to their profession no matter the cost. As a result, increasingly legal workplaces are encouraging people to be more open about their mental health and are more supportive of wellbeing.

When you look at what some workplaces are doing – regular supervision sessions with a psychologist for example, or moving to a four-day week, certainly that is very progressive, but in other places change has been slow. There is still much more work to be done by all of us.

What has prompted any change in culture in the legal profession?

There are numerous factors that have prompted change. I think generally as a society we are a lot more open about mental health and high profile people, the royal family for example, have been forthcoming in talking about their challenges. This can help pave the way for others to speak about their concerns.

There are now more women than men in the profession and in our experience, women are more likely to talk about any problems they are facing than men, so that may have had an impact. There’s still a long way to go in getting more men to seek support.

I also think another driver for change is that workplaces are recognising that mental wellbeing is important to their staff and that a positive culture in organisations is key for attracting and retaining people. Ignoring these issues in workplaces is no longer sustainable.

Why was LawCare established?

LawCare was originally called SolCare and was set up as a telephone helpline to help solicitors with alcohol addiction. It very quickly became apparent that the profession had other needs other than just alcohol addiction and we were soon dealing with a variety of other issues such as stress, depression, anxiety, workplace bullying and disciplinary matters.

Other professional bodies approached us to provide services for their members and by 2001 we changed our name to LawCare when the Bar Council arranged for barristers to be covered by LawCare’s services. We are now available to anyone working or training in the law, including support staff in the UK, Channel Islands and Isle of Man. Our support spans the legal life from student to retirement.

Unlike other organisations, such as Samaritans, LawCare  is not a crisis line, although people can contact us about a variety of issues that are worrying them from a bad day at work to something more serious. We are the only support service tailored to the legal profession, where you will be supported by someone who has worked, or currently works in the law. We understand life in the law and all its challenges.

In addition to our telephone helpline we also offer email and online chat support, we can offer one-to-one peer support, and we can fund counselling sessions in some cases. We also provide training and resources to the profession on mental health and wellbeing and advocate for change.

Building a better life in law

LawCare is hosting its inaugural online conference ‘Building a Better Life in the Law’ on 28 September 2022. The programme of plenaries, panel discussions, workshops and breakout sessions brings together all that LawCare has learned over its 25 year history as the mental wellbeing charity for the legal community. It also shares insights from its ground-breaking Life in the Law research undertaken during 2020/21.

Leaders across the profession who are pioneering new ways of working will share their experiences of improving the culture in law during three main tracks:

• Starting out – addressing the particular needs of junior lawyers
• Innovation – in supervision and management
• Leading – creating cultures where people feel valued and belong