Should wellbeing in the law industry be more holistic and inclusive?

People often think being a partner is easy. Sitting in your ivory tower, getting juniors to do your bidding, schmoozing at conferences and having posh lunches.?

Oh, how our views about partnership have changed over the years. And how things have changed in the legal world.?

The responsibilities of partnership are not easy, of course. The pandemic and the times we’re living in have made things a whole lot harder.

Some of this comes down to the unanticipated negative side-effects of otherwise positive changes in the world of law. Take the focus in recent years on wellbeing for example. Juniors are (rightly) demanding that more attention is paid to their working conditions and their hours. But the demands from the client work remain and in fact, have only intensified during the pandemic.?

This can leave firms with what we call ‘the squeezed middle’ - with senior associates and partners bearing more of the brunt of things. Think about it like a pair of big stomach holding in pants. If you squeeze things in in one place (i.e. making working conditions better for juniors) then the ‘fat’ (or the stress for our purposes) will simply expand somewhere else - putting more strain on the seniors.?

The other positive development in the industry has been the increase in flexibility offered to staff since the pandemic. More flexibility in terms of working arrangements is a great thing of course but it has presented big challenges for supervisors and partners in trying to maintain a team culture and effective supervisory relationships.

So what do you think??

Are we talking a load of old bunkum?

Or do you agree that we need to think about wellbeing and what you might call the ‘community welfare’ of law firms in a more holistic and inclusive sense?

Let us know in the comments!

#holisticwellbeing #inclusivewellbeing #wellbeinginlaw