Meet our senior leaders
Marguerite Picard
Marguerite Picard
changing the narrative and the approach."
I was admitted to legal practice in 1982. I’ve worked in community legal centres, criminal law, general practice, and family law. Formerly an Accredited Family Law Specialist, Collaborative Practitioner, and Arbitrator, I am particularly proud of my leadership role in collaborative family law and mediation, focusing on better outcomes through trauma-informed processes.
I’ve experienced my share of professional challenges from the daily stresses of being a lawyer, like billing pressures, adversarial relationships, and failing to have work/life boundaries, to more serious issues, including gender discrimination, vicarious trauma, and burnout. I have seen many colleagues suffer the same and worse.
Through industry research and participation in global discussions, I was uninspired by the short-term, often hands-off approach of traditional wellbeing initiatives and their harmful impacts. They focus so heavily on individual resilience, too-often failing to address the cultural, organisational, and systemic challenges undermining wellbeing. Most lack regularity or follow-up, so the benefits are short-lived.
I’ve learned that most in the industry are perceptive when we, or others, need help but are very reluctant to seek it. We’re part of a hypercritical culture of overwork and perfectionism that stigmatises vulnerability. And we’ve all heard gossip of colleagues accessing help through their firm’s Employee Assistance Program and suffering judgement by their peers and firm. So, the idea of balance, resilience, and poise under pressure becomes a toxic distortion of stoicism. We deny our humanity and further erode mental, and often physical, health.
Improving wellbeing in law requires changing the narrative and the approach. I hold a profound belief in the power of a truly holistic framework addressing the multi-level elements that affect wellbeing. Because your work is essential. So is your wellbeing. And it starts with us – all of us.
Marguerite Picard
changing the narrative and the approach."
I was admitted to legal practice in 1982. I’ve worked in community legal centres, criminal law, general practice, and family law. Formerly an Accredited Family Law Specialist, Collaborative Practitioner, and Arbitrator, I am particularly proud of my leadership role in collaborative family law and mediation, focusing on better outcomes through trauma-informed processes.
I’ve experienced my share of professional challenges from the daily stresses of being a lawyer, like billing pressures, adversarial relationships, and failing to have work/life boundaries, to more serious issues, including gender discrimination, vicarious trauma, and burnout. I have seen many colleagues suffer the same and worse.
Through industry research and participation in global discussions, I was uninspired by the short-term, often hands-off approach of traditional wellbeing initiatives and their harmful impacts. They focus so heavily on individual resilience, too-often failing to address the cultural, organisational, and systemic challenges undermining wellbeing. Most lack regularity or follow-up, so the benefits are short-lived.
I’ve learned that most in the industry are perceptive when we, or others, need help but are very reluctant to seek it. We’re part of a hypercritical culture of overwork and perfectionism that stigmatises vulnerability. And we’ve all heard gossip of colleagues accessing help through their firm’s Employee Assistance Program and suffering judgement by their peers and firm. So, the idea of balance, resilience, and poise under pressure becomes a toxic distortion of stoicism. We deny our humanity and further erode mental, and often physical, health.
Improving wellbeing in law requires changing the narrative and the approach. I hold a profound belief in the power of a truly holistic framework addressing the multi-level elements that affect wellbeing. Because your work is essential. So is your wellbeing. And it starts with us – all of us.