Three times as many solicitors sought help with their wellbeing last year than three years ago and increasing numbers of them are women, according to a new report.
The Solicitors’ Charity’s Big Report 2025–2026 highlights what it says is increasing demand due to more complex issues related to overlapping pressures across financial, emotional, professional and physical wellbeing.
It reveals that two thirds of its clients, and nearly three quarters of new clients, are women. More than two thirds also identified as having a disability.
But, the charity says, more than four in five of those who contacted it said its support had helped them feel better able to cope.
Nick Gallagher, CEO, said: “What we are seeing is not just increased demand, but more complex need. Challenges rarely exist in isolation, which means support has to help alleviate the full extent of what someone is going through.
“When people are able to access the right support at the right time, it can positively change how they experience and move through those challenges.”
The numbers, he said, show that, “increasingly, those seeking our help are of working age –particularly women – reflect changes in the workforce and the pressures faced throughout modern legal careers and lives outside of it”.
The charity awarded £1.27 million to solicitors facing financial hardship in 2025 and provided more than 5,600 hours of direct support to clients. As well as directly helping solicitors, it also funds LawCare, the mental health charity for the UK legal sector.
The charity, which is more than 150 years old, says the findings underline the importance of continued awareness and engagement across the profession and that its work depends on support from firms, organisations and the wider legal community to ensure help remains visible and accessible to those who need it.
Outgoing chair Shams Rahman said the charity is a “unique and vital safety net” that has “geared up significantly” in terms of the range of support it offers. But, he added, “like many charities, it faces challenges to find sustainable funding”.
He urged leaders in the legal sector to support the charity, which can be found at thesolicitorscharity.org.
