Stress and Burnout in Law Firms: Leadership Challenges and Choices

There is a widespread and growing acceptance in legal services organisations worldwide that dealing with stress and burnout is not just the responsibility of the individual lawyer. The mitigation and prevention of excessive stress in the legal workplace are now being recognised as critical management responsibilities. This expectation has serious measurable implications and consequences for managing partners, general counsel and other leaders. This practical guide summons lawyers, leaders and managers to greater alertness about stress-producing factors in the workplace and to more effective applications of practical responses and methods in the special conditions and circumstances of the practice of law in today’s often intense and highly competitive environment. It is written expressly for professional colleagues who want to work together in common cause to bring greater awareness to wellness needs and to minimise excessive stress or distress in the legal workplace, positively impacting workplace culture, professional relationships, firm reputation, talent retention and profitability. Written by a world-recognised counselling psychologist, who has worked exclusively with the people and organisations in the legal services industry for more than twenty-five years, it focuses on actions, not theories and philosophy, that any leader and legal services organisation can begin to use immediately to make sustainable investments in the well-being of its people.