‘A Performance Crisis Hiding In Plain Sight’: Half Of Women In Law Say Demands Of Work Are Unsustainable

Half of women working in law say the demands of their job are unsustainable for their long-term health, according to new research which canvassed the views of more than 500 female legal professionals.

The finding is among a series of stark conclusions drawn from the new report ‘Pressure Points: Mapping Women’s Wellbeing in Law,’ based on a survey of women in law conducted by the Next 100 Years, a project focused on advancing equality and supporting women across the legal profession.

Other findings in the research — which is based on 533 responses from women of all levels of seniority in private practice, in-house and at the Bar — include that:

• Almost nine in ten women (85%) have experienced health and wellbeing issues that had impacted their work over the past five years;
• Two thirds (67%) have considered moving job or taking a career break due to health and wellbeing issues; and
• Almost half (43%) say they do not feel they can openly discuss health and wellbeing issues at work without negative consequences.

The report includes concerning testimonials, with one female partner referencing to ‘a thinly veiled threat of severe financial penalty’ if absence from work due to burnout meant she did not meet her annual target, and another noting ‘the constant pressure to demonstrate your value to the business.’

Next 100 Years founder Dana Denis-Smith — a former Linklaters lawyer who since 2010 has run Obelisk Support — said the findings of the research point to ‘the quiet, accumulated cost’ of working conditions that damage the health and wellbeing of female legal professionals, arguing that employers are not providing sufficient support.

‘Many firms are taking health and wellbeing seriously but good intentions and wellness programmes are not enough,’ she said. ‘We need to see change in the underlying architecture — the hours, the billing model, the cultural expectations and the absence of targeted support.’

For more, see ‘It’s about the sustainability of the profession’: LawCare and the CLLS push firms to prioritise mental health

The survey was supported by mental health charity LawCare, performance and health coach Ann-Marie Goodbody, and City law firm RPC.

Goodbody characterised the widespread challenges facing women as ‘a performance crisis hiding in plain sight.’

‘Sustained output without structured recovery leads to breakdown,’ she said. ‘Until recovery becomes a structural norm in legal working life, rather than a personal indulgence squeezed into the margins, this cycle will not change, and the profession will keep losing the very women it cannot afford to lose.’

RPC associate director for responsible business and employment counsel Rachel Pears described the issues outlined in the report as ‘a collective problem that requires a collective response.’

‘If we want a legal sector in which women can build long, rewarding careers, we need to move beyond resilience rhetoric and towards working practices that actively protect health, dignity and belonging.’

The report sets out a series of recommendations to improve the situation, including:

• Reform of the billable hours model, with the profitability of overwork described as ‘a short-term calculation with long-term costs’;
• Increased adoption and enforcement of menopause, fertility, and pregnancy loss policies; and
• Leaders being held accountable for wellbeing, with consequences for management figures when wellbeing in their teams is poor.

The report comes after the City of London Law Society (CLLS), the City of London Solicitors’ Company (CLSC) and LawCare recently announced a three-year strategic partnership to tackle mental health challenges and improve working practices in law.

The partnership will see CLLS and CLSC provide a total of £45,000 in additional funding to LawCare over the next three years, as well as joining the charity’s 25 Club, which calls on firms and individuals to commit funding to LawCare.

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