In 2024, the passing of Vannessa Ford, a former female equity partner at Pinsent Masons, sparked global concerns about mental health within the legal fraternity. An inquest into Ms Ford's death showed that she passed on while "undergoing an acute mental crisis exacerbated by a number of stressors" one of which is believed to be the long working hours she endured shortly before her death. According to Ms Ford's husband, she was wracked with guilt over missing time with her two children.
Globally, some of the initiatives that have been rolled out include implementing wellbeing targets for junior associates, monitoring individuals who are billing long hours continuously and measuring the competence of partners by looking at how much they value mental health in the workplace.
Whilst these are all great initiatives, there are other key ways to improve mental health, specifically female practitioners in professional services. For example:
- Providing training on proper time management and how to work efficiently in varying practice areas. This training is most effective when it is rolled out as soon as a new team member joins the team.
- Encouraging open discussions about mental health with practitioners. It is a fact that some of the junior professionals come from rural backgrounds where the concept of mental health is not understood nor is it recognised. Consequently, these juniors have limited support and guidance at home when it comes to the concept of managing work stress. It is these juniors who are then dependent on their colleagues for guidance and support. With this in mind, open conversations about mental health must be had. Similarly, colleagues must be encouraged to reach out for assistance (whether that be in a mentoring or professional capacity).
- Embracing the principles of diversity, equity and inclusion ("DEI"), in a world where the concept of DEI is constantly under threat. Female practitioners are encouraged to attend, and contribute, to female-led collaborative sessions where various issues are discussed. This ranges from topics such as business development to becoming a mother whilst being in practice. During these sessions, female practitioners are encouraged to share their experiences to enable collective learning.
- Supporting females. One of the methods in which this is implemented is by encouraging females to implement boundaries in order for them to achieve their goals, both personally and professionally. This is to encourage more self-care and reduce burnout.
- Relying on team members. Female employees must be encouraged and supported as they let go of the notion of being able to do it all, all the time. Teams should operate as they are intended to – where other team members can step to alleviate the pressure and lighten the load where they are able to. Similarly, senior team members should quickly identify when a practitioner is under immense pressure and allocate additional resources to the matter.
- Employers should encourage time-off, as well as allow for flexibility in schedules so as not to contribute to burnout.
Practitioners, specifically female practitioners, need to practise prioritising themselves more, which will accelerate action and improve mental wellbeing. In so doing, they will become powerful role models for future female generations and break the curse of burnout in the workplace.
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