The legal sector faces a turning point as more than half of people responding to a survey on their mental health and wellbeing said they anticipated leaving their role within the next five years, and a third said they anticipated leaving the legal sector completely as the normalisation of overworking has played a sizeable role in high levels of burnout and anxiety, undermining mental health and wellbeing.
The research ‘signals a profound risk to workforce stability at a time when the demand for legal services continues to grow’ according to its author, LawCare who conducted the survey earlier this year, benchmarking the results against the 2021 report; the previous time this survey was run.
Mental health and wellbeing charity LawCare was has been supporting people working in the legal sector for over 25 years and provides free and confidential emotional support, peer support and information about mental health for people working in the legal sector. Life in the Law 2025 surveyed individuals and organisations across legal services to gain an understanding of the current state of mental health and wellbeing in the sector. The research sought to answer five questions:
- How do people feel about working in the legal sector?
- What are the current levels of mental health and wellbeing of people in the legal sector?
- What is undermining mental health and wellbeing in the legal workplace?
- What could have a positive impact on mental health and wellbeing in legal workplaces?
- What evidence-based steps can organisations take to improve mental health and wellbeing in the legal workplace?
The aim of the research was not only to identify the issues, but also come up with practical solutions.
The findings uncovered 60% of those surveyed considered their mental health to be ‘poor.’ One of the key issues is the normalisation of long hours. 79% of respondents said they regularly work beyond their contracted hours and of those nearly 10% said they worked 21 or more hours over leading to higher risks of burnout and anxiety; 50% of respondents said they had experienced anxiety, either often, very often or all of the time, over the last 12 months.
Bullying, harassment and discrimination is also an issue for nearly a fifth of respondents who said they had some experience of this in the preceding 12 months. The results follow on from the recent report in to bullying and harassment within the Bar, described as a ‘culture of impunity’ by Baroness Harriet Harman KC, the report’s author.
Life in the Law 2025 also highlights the level of expectations at firms around delivering on billable time, particularly for those in supervisory or managerial roles, where 31% reported their targets or billable hours were adjusted to take into account the time they need to spend managing others or undertaking appropriate training.
But rather than dwell on the problems, the time to implement ‘evidence-based sustainable solutions’ say LawCare in the report:
“There are simple evidence-based solutions. What’s needed is strong leadership and the commitment to put them in place… There are clear, practical steps that can be taken right now to lead towards a healthier sector. These include actively managing workloads to prevent burnout, embedding flexible and hybrid working practices that recognise and support diverse needs and evaluating workplace mental health and wellbeing initiatives to ensure they deliver real impact. The case has been made; we don’t need more evidence. It is time to move on from discussing the problems to implementing”
Without decisive action from leaders, the sector risks losing people, declining mental health, and a loss of public trust and confidence adds the report which outlines five evidence-based steps organisations can implement now to improve working practices in legal workplaces to better protect mental health and wellbeing:
1) Prevent burnout by actively managing workloads, rethinking targets and incentives, and challenging the culture of long hours.
2) Prioritise and value managing people.
3) Embed hybrid and flexible working practices that meet diverse needs.
4) Evaluate programmes and activities that support mental health and wellbeing at work to ensure they deliver real impact.
5) Equip people joining the sector with the skills and knowledge they need for a sustainable legal career.
LawCare’s CEO Elizabeth Rimmer said:
“We have it in our hands to transform the way we work and build a future where people are supported to perform at their best and build sustainable careers. The path to prioritising mental health and wellbeing before us is clear. Now is the time for leaders to act with courage: move away from practices that normalise overwork, which risk driving people out of the sector, and take the path to a better future by valuing people management.”
The charity adds it will start a programme of engagement to develop resources and training to support leaders and organisations to put these recommendations into practice in 2026 with an invitation to join an upcoming webinar on Wednesday 12 November, 12 to 1pm to find out more.
