Mental Health: Who Has the Power to Change the System?

Can partners, leaders, junior lawyers or clients have the most effect in challenging Big Law’s mental health crisis?

I'm Paul Hodkinson, Editor-In-Chief of Law.com International, bringing you this week's edition of The Global Lawyer.

The tragic death of Pinsent Masons U.K. partner Vanessa Ford has rocked the global legal industry because so many know what it is like to feel overwhelmed, stressed and burnt out.

The big question now is whether all this impassioned discussion will lead to changes, or will just end up being viewed as a one-off tragedy that, while immensely sad, does not have any impact on the industry’s long working hours, intense deadlines and constant pressure.

The top tier commercial legal industry certainly has some unique stress factors: the industry is very fragmented; internal competition is fierce; and every minute is measured. In other words, it is not possible for a lawyer at a Global 200 law firm to ‘take it easy’ for a while because it will show up in their billing, others might muscle in on their client relationships, and rival firms might take market share.

Yet, although the problem is a systemic one, as my colleague Krishnan Nair recently wrote, if we only talk about industry-wide problems then it ultimately becomes no one’s problem. Because when everyone is to blame, no one is.

Who then, if anyone, is able to seize the initiative and attempt to confront the system?

Here are five groups, in no particular order, who possibly bear some responsibility for the way the industry is and could have some influence in changing it...

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