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04 July 2025 / Elizabeth Rimmer
Issue: 8123 / Categories: Features , Mental health , Legal services , Profession , Career focus
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Driving change at the top

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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

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

mfg Solicitors—Hayley Pearce & Lauren Williams

mfg Solicitors—Hayley Pearce & Lauren Williams

Law firm mfg Solicitors announces promotions at Ludlow office

Womble Bond Dickinson—Richard Sharpe

Womble Bond Dickinson—Richard Sharpe

Womble Bond Dickinson appoints partner in Leeds residential team

Brabners—six promotions

Brabners—six promotions

Brabners adds six to partnership in record year for partner promotions

NEWS
The legal profession's AI challenge extends far beyond fabricated case citations, according to a warning about the next phase of technological risk
Law firms should use the transition period before the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) assumes anti-money laundering (AML) supervision to strengthen governance and compliance, experts have warned
Cross-border disputes increasingly demand creative approaches to gathering evidence, with litigators needing to look beyond traditional letters of request
A Court of Appeal ruling has clarified the distinction between contracts of 'indefinite' and 'perpetual' duration, with potentially significant implications for commercial drafting
The Court of Appeal was entitled to uphold the government's decision to proscribe Palestine Action as a terrorist organisation, according to an analysis of the ruling
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