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05 March 2020
Issue: 7877 / Categories: Features , Profession
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Creating a healthy work culture

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Laura Uberoi explains why lawyers should embrace a no- or low-alcohol-focused approach to work events

The Junior Lawyers Division of the Law Society (the JLD) launched a new guide—Creating a healthy alcohol culture in the legal profession (the guide) earlier this year. Its aim is not to stop individuals drinking alcohol, but to promote awareness and create opportunities to foster a healthier, more inclusive approach to work-related activities. The guide was featured in nearly every national newspaper and discussed on various radio stations, so why is it attracting so much attention and what can you take from it?

 

Time for change?

 

There are four main factors encouraging organisations and lawyers to rethink their approaches to alcohol:

  • Improved mental and physical health. Harmful drinking is the biggest risk factor for death and ill health among 15-49 year olds in the UK. Since 2017, the JLD has run an annual survey examining the levels of extreme stress and mental-ill health among junior lawyers. This survey highlights that alcohol is a contributing factor to mental ill-health
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MOVERS & SHAKERS

NLJ Career Profile: John McElroy, London Solicitors Litigation Association

NLJ Career Profile: John McElroy, London Solicitors Litigation Association

From first-generation student to trailblazing president of the London Solicitors Litigation Association, John McElroy of Fieldfisher reflects on resilience, identity and the power of bringing your whole self to the law

Clarke Willmott—Elaine Field

Clarke Willmott—Elaine Field

Planning and environment team expands with partner hire in Manchester

Birketts—Barbara Hamilton-Bruce

Birketts—Barbara Hamilton-Bruce

Firm appoints chief operating officer to strengthen leadership team

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Litigators digesting Mazur are being urged to tighten oversight and compliance. In his latest 'Insider' column for NLJ this week, Professor Dominic Regan of City Law School provides a cut out and keep guide to the ruling’s core test: whether an unauthorised individual is ‘in truth acting on behalf of the authorised individual’
Conflicting county court rulings have left landlords uncertain over whether they can force entry after tenants refuse access. In this week's NLJ, Edward Blakeney and Ashpen Rajah of Falcon Chambers outline a split: some judges permit it under CPR 70.2A, others insist only Parliament can authorise such powers
A wave of scandals has reignited debate over misconduct in public office, criticised as unclear and inconsistently applied. Writing in NLJ this week, Alice Lepeuple of WilmerHale says the offence’s ‘vagueness, overbreadth & inconsistent deployment’ have undermined confidence
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