If you’re a practising lawyer the list of ‘normal’ feelings you have probably encountered is long. Do any of these notions sound familiar? Are they actually normal?
- Worried
- Tired
- Stressed
- Overworked
- Anxious
- Guilty
- Flat
- Exhausted
- Inadequate
- Out of your depth
- Can’t be bothered
- Escape is a fantasy
- Expectations
At a well-informed guess, every lawyer has experienced some of the above, briefly or maybe long-term. If this is ‘normal’, and the research says it is, the thing that most lawyers do next may not be so normal. And that’s because they typically do nothing. Nothing but hope, anyway.
The outcome of hope over action is that lawyers consistently show up in the research as suffering from all the effects of cumulative stress, and at a higher rate than for most other professions. This is especially so for younger lawyers, who are very likely to judge themselves as inadequate in some way, rather than recognising the impacts of the system, their workplace and their work. That is not a surprising response for people who are high achievers, and who have been successful by their own efforts and talent to date. The research tells us that the characteristics that make for successful law graduates also predispose for the kind of invulnerability that leads to burnout, not to reaching out.
There has never been more research and discussion about the mental health and wellbeing of lawyers than there is in 2025. There remains a significant gap between the research and the availability of definitive, concrete solutions. Regulation, research, writing and talking about wellbeing is positive, but in the end, change will happen within firms and by individuals.
At SFL, we think the idea that every lawyer has a counsellor/coach/go-to-person embedded in their regular working life is very normal. The way we do this is to enable a regular (monthly/fortnightly) private zoom session with an experienced counsellor who can debrief, support and discuss work/life/crises/successes to help manage what might be happening and to help prevent issues escalating because they are ignored or suffered alone.
Many other professions do it as part of their ‘normal’. Many other professions are healthier than lawyers. Maybe this is what ‘normal’ could look like for any firm and any lawyer?
Check us out on www.supportforlawyers.com.au
