header-logo header-logo

04 July 2025 / Elizabeth Rimmer
Issue: 8123 / Categories: Features , Mental health , Legal services , Profession , Career focus
printer mail-detail

Driving change at the top

224723
Elizabeth Rimmer sets out practical steps for legal leaders to make a difference on mental health & workplace culture

In recent years, especially since the pandemic, there has been more open discussion about working culture and mental health in the legal sector. Firms and chambers are winning awards for their wellbeing initiatives. Regulators and professional bodies are sharing best practice. But we now need to turn this amplified conversation into meaningful and lasting change.

If we want to build a thriving, sustainable legal profession, we must look deeper. We need to move beyond surface-level fixes and begin reshaping the accepted norms and practices that undermine mental health in the workplace. Legal leaders play a critical role in this transformation. Here are seven practical steps to help guide the way.

Define a shared purpose

We need to be clear that mental health is not a ‘nice-to-have’ or a one-off campaign during Mental Health Awareness Week. It is fundamental to delivering effective, ethical, and sustainable legal services.

When people

If you are not a subscriber, subscribe now to read this content
If you are already a subscriber sign in
...or Register for two weeks' free access to subscriber content

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Switalskis—five appointments

Switalskis—five appointments

Firm expands national abuse compensation team

Mathys & Squire—nine promotions

Mathys & Squire—nine promotions

IP firm announces new partners and senior promotions across UK offices

Carey Olsen—five promotions

Carey Olsen—five promotions

Carey Olsen promotes five lawyers to the partnership

NEWS
Executors may be overlooking billions of pounds in estate assets hidden in forgotten investments and misplaced share certificates
Britain’s booming non-surgical cosmetics market is operating in what some critics describe as a regulatory ‘Wild West’
Family contact disputes are becoming an increasingly prominent feature of Court of Protection litigation
Material obtained through US discovery applications may have a much longer legal life than many litigants realise
English courts are developing a distinctly practical approach to sanctions disputes arising from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine
back-to-top-scroll