Editorial
“
Law firms are
prioritising the issue of
mental health
”
Is the legal profession doing enough to ensure the
mental health and well-being of lawyers? New research
conducted by Iberian Lawyer suggests not. A total
of 80 per cent of respondents to our survey said the
profession needs to do more to address this issue. The
scale of the problem may be bigger than we realise – our
study revealed that eight out of ten lawyers in Spain and
Portugal have – or know a colleague who has – suffered
from mental health problems at some point during their
career as a lawyer.
Of course there are a wide range of different mental
health problems – at one end of the scale it could mean
a lawyer at your firm feeling stressed or depressed, but
it could also mean they are contemplating suicide. As
one respondent put it, suffering from a mental health
problem is “like living in hell”. Survey participants said
the pressure for lawyers to be “permanently connected”
by phone and email, for example, could be a contributory
factor. In such circumstances, clients can end up being
given priority over personal connections with the
result that family relationships can suffer, and worse,
breakdown completely. A number of the most widely
respected lawyers in Spain can testify to this.
However, as our report highlight, there is hope
for those suffering. Major law firms are increasingly
prioritising this issue. Why? Because they know it’s
foolish not to. A lawyer with mental health problems may
not only experience a severe dip in performance, but they
could also negatively impact on the performance of their
colleagues. At the very least, as a number of respondents
highlighted, merely discussing this issue could be a
significant step in helping those afflicted.
Ben Cook
Editor
Iberian Lawyer
[email protected]
Twitter: @BenCook_Iberian
www.iberianlawyer.com
March / April 2018 • IBERIAN LAWYER •
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