Legal profession

LawCare: ‘Making mental health matter’

LawCare celebrates its 20th anniversary this year, and is marking the occasion with conference in London on 10 October, which is World Mental Health Day.

About the author
Elizabeth Rimmer is director of LawCare.

LawCare has witnessed significant growth and change in the legal profession over two decades, as organisations start to embrace the mental health agenda and recognise the need to look after those who need support with mental health issues. We have played our part, moving from being a charity that supported lawyers who had difficulties with alcohol, to one which offers help with issues ranging from stress to depression to anxiety to bullying at work right across the profession in the UK and in Ireland.

Over the last 20 years, it has become more acceptable to talk about mental health. When LawCare was set up in 1997, it was difficult for people to get support or sympathy, and it seemed as if no one wanted to know. It was felt that those lawyers who had difficulties with alcohol, for example, were the authors of their own misfortune, and members of the profession were getting lost as a result.

Talking openly about mental health issues

While there has been a gradual sea change, this has accelerated over the past two years. In the legal profession, this has gone hand-in-hand with what we have seen more widely in society, where celebrities and sportspeople have been talking openly about their mental health issues.

The royal family joined the ‘Heads Together’ campaign, and the government has pledged more support. We have also had campaigns, such as ‘This is Me – in the City’ and ‘Time to Change’ reaching into our profession, as well as the formation of the City Mental Health Alliance, which is currently chaired by Nigel Jones, a partner in London firm, Linklaters. It is very encouraging to see across the profession, from large corporate firms, where client pressures and long hours can take their toll, to legal aid practices, where cuts and working with vulnerable clients can be difficult, that the mental health agenda is being taken onboard.

World Mental Health Day: ‘Mental health in the workplace’

Particularly timely is the theme for this year’s World Mental Health Day, which is ‘mental health in the workplace.¹ Mental health issues have been shown to increase employee absenteeism, to lower rates of productivity and to increase costs.

This year’s campaign will contribute to taking mental health out of the shadows in the workplace, so that people and employers have the tools to help staff and increase the overall mental wellbeing of their workforce. This theme runs throughout LawCare’s conference, ‘Making Mental Health Matter’.²

LawCare conference: ‘Making mental health matter’

The conference includes a keynote address from Jo Loughran, director of operations at Time to Change, which helps companies implement wellbeing strategies, a personal story from Chris Parsons, chair of the India Practice at Herbert Smith Freehills, about how the City firm supported him, and a panel discussion about current practice in their organisations, with representatives from Linklaters, the Junior Lawyers Division of the Law Society of England and Wales, Scotland’s Faculty of Advocates, and the Law Society of Ireland’s counselling service.

We will also be hearing from Lizzie Lockett, who is deputy chief executive, director of strategic communications, and director of the ‘Mind Matters Initiative’ at the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS). RCVS is the regulatory body for veterinary surgeons and veterinary nurses in the UK. Lizzie Lockett will talk about how the organisation is supporting vets experiencing mental health issues.

In December 2014, RCVS set up the ‘Mind Matters Initiative’, which aims to make a difference to the mental health and wellbeing of members of the veterinary team, including students, nurses, surgeons and practice managers. Lizzie Lockett runs the programme on a day-to-day basis, and will be talking to the conference audience about what those differences are, and how they have impacted the day-to-day lives of the wider team.

LawCare is also launching a new booklet, on World Mental Health Day, which provides top tips for both staff and employers about how to provide mental health and wellbeing support to colleagues and employees. It is important for colleagues to understand that it is not necessary to be an expert to be supportive to someone who may be experiencing a mental issue: what is important is to be able to listen non-judgmentally ; to be able to support emotionally by recognising and accepting how the person feels; and to discuss what options may be available to them by way of professional help and support.

We also know that it is significant for senior leaders to get onboard with any mental health and wellbeing initiatives, as it sends a clear message that staff wellbeing matters and colleagues take cues from how leaders behave: leaders can demonstrate the organisation’s commitment to staff wellbeing by walking the talk.

Above all, on this year’s World Mental Health Day and on our 20th anniversary, we hope that these changes in attitude will continue to roll out across the legal community and that all organisations put in place strategies to support their people with mental health issues.

We are moving forward, but we still have some way to go. We hope that, in 20 years’ time, the profession will look entirely different where mental health is concerned, and that anyone with a problem will be able to talk about it openly and find support. At least, we’re on our way.

LawCare's free, independent and confidential helpline provides a space for you to talk about anything that may be worrying you. Telephone: 0800 279 6888. The helpline is available Monday to Friday from 9 am to 7.30 pm and at weekends and on Bank holidays from 10 am to 4 pm.

1 Mental health in the workplace: World Mental Health Day 2017, available from www.wfmh.global/wmhd-2017
2 For details about the conference and to download LawCare’s ‘top tips’, visit: www.lawcare.org.uk