Mental health for lawyers: the impact of long working hours

[Nicole]

Hey guys,

It's mental health awareness week and I came across this interesting article from Legal Week: http://www.legalweek.com/sites/lega...-long-working-hours-on-lawyers-mental-health/, but it's under a paywall!

So I wanted to summarise some of the findings because I think it's really important that this kind of thing is open at an early stage. 130 lawyers were surveyed by Legal Week for this.

Legal Week - "Burnt out: new research highlights impact of long working hours on lawyers' mental health"

• They found that "91% believe long working hours are negatively impacting their mental health and physical health".
• Over 37% "regularly work more than 60 hours a week" and 15% do over 70 hours a week.
• "virtually all respondents" work a minimum of one weekend a month, almost half work do "two or three" weekends of the month (this one surprised me!).
• About 40% said "they had experienced mental health issues" while working as a lawyer. Of those 98% said work stress contributed to that.

I hope I don't scare you guys and I think it does vary a lot (the survey includes responses that vary from a lot to a little in the numbers), just something we can be aware of .

 

[JoshMason]

Hey guys,

It's mental health awareness week and I came across this interesting article from Legal Week: http://www.legalweek.com/sites/lega...-long-working-hours-on-lawyers-mental-health/, but it's under a paywall!

So I wanted to summarise some of the findings because I think it's really important that this kind of thing is open at an early stage. 130 lawyers were surveyed by Legal Week for this.

Legal Week - "Burnt out: new research highlights impact of long working hours on lawyers' mental health"

• They found that "91% believe long working hours are negatively impacting their mental health and physical health".
• Over 37% "regularly work more than 60 hours a week" and 15% do over 70 hours a week.
• "virtually all respondents" work a minimum of one weekend a month, almost half work do "two or three" weekends of the month (this one surprised me!).
• About 40% said "they had experienced mental health issues" while working as a lawyer. Of those 98% said work stress contributed to that.

I hope I don't scare you guys and I think it does vary a lot (the survey includes responses that vary from a lot to a little in the numbers), just something we can be aware of .

Wow that's pretty crazy. Thanks for writing that out!

 

[MightyMoe]

60 hours a week is 9-9 Monday to Friday right?

 

[Nicole]

Haha yeah...that's going to be a big adjustment!

 

[MightyMoe]

Haha yeah...that's going to be a big adjustment!

Tell me about it. I have a friend at a magic circle firm, she says she can never make plans on the weekdays because it's worse having to cancel them last minute. She does say that she really really values her weekends though haha

 

[Nicole]

Tell me about it. I have a friend at a magic circle firm, she says she can never make plans on the weekdays because it's worse having to cancel them last minute. She does say that she really really values her weekends though haha

Aha yeah, I've heard the same thing. I've also been told the find a place closer to the office (otherwise it'll be a killer during late nights!!).

 

[MightyMoe]

@Jaysen - can I ask what your hours were like at your law firm? How did you cope with the long hours?

 

[Jaysen]

@Jaysen - can I ask what your hours were like at your law firm? How did you cope with the long hours?

It was quite variable. On average, I would start at 9am and end at 8/9pm. Some days I'd end a bit earlier (7pm) and some later (3am).

It helped to see it as a team effort - it wasn't just me working late some days, but my supervisor and other trainees were also doing their best to get things done. I also moved closer to the office so I reduced my journey time (I was grateful for that extra time in bed). And then coffee - lots and lots of coffee - during those late nights!

 

[MightyMoe]

It was quite variable. On average, I would start at 9am and end at 8/9pm. Some days I'd end a bit earlier (7pm) and some later (3am).

It helped to see it as a team effort - it wasn't just me working late some days, but my supervisor and other trainees were also doing their best to get things done. I also moved closer to the office so I reduced my journey time (I was grateful for that extra time in bed). And then coffee - lots and lots of coffee - during those late nights!

Oh gosh, those really are some long days. If I'm lucky enough to get a TC I will definitely move into London.

If you worked late one night (say 3am), do you get to come in a bit later the next day?

 

[Jaysen]

Oh gosh, those really are some long days. If I'm lucky enough to get a TC I will definitely move into London.

If you worked late one night (say 3am), do you get to come in a bit later the next day?

I would recommend it, although as I'm sure you know, the property prices are very high!

It depends. If I was there late, it was usually because there was a closing or an urgent deadline coming up. If there was still stuff to do, then I'd come in normal time. If it was all done, I'd be told I could come in later (but that was on the rarer side).

 

[Nicole]

Hey guys,

This isn't completely relevant, but I thought I'd share this interesting article titled "Hard work may not pay off" - https://www.ft.com/content/d27b4334-962d-11e8-b747-fb1e803ee64e.

Interesting implications for the long hours at law firms!