We can’t change the past, but we can create the future

In this edition, Elizabeth Rimmer talks about how we can all contribute to building a more sustainable culture in law where struggles with mental health are met with empathy and understanding, and where people thrive. By donating to LawCare’s Big Give Christmas Challenge this week, you have an opportunity to make a profound impact on the lives of your colleagues and friends in our community and create the future we all want to see.

"The best way to predict the future is to create it" said Peter Drucker, often hailed as the ‘father of modern management'.

This quote gets to the heart of how to drive positive change. It emphasises the power individuals and organisations have to be the architects of creating a future that aligns with their goals and values. It is a call to action that reminds us that to have the future we want, we must be proactive, innovative and willing to take decisive steps. Predicting or anticipating what lies ahead isn’t going to get us there, it’s taking the initiative that will.

I have been out and about a lot over the last few months at real world face to face events, from seminars about risk to conferences about the future of work. A strong thread has run through all my interactions and discussions – that these are challenging times to navigate. The increasingly demanding complexity of compliance, meeting the shifting expectations of work (especially from those at the start of their legal careers), getting to grips with AI and trying to imagine its impact, the greater scrutiny of our work and client selection, all having to be grappled with in an environment where there is pressure on costs, global events beyond our control, and competition from new models of legal service delivery. This doesn’t leave much head space for reflecting and thinking about the future. ?

However, what has struck me is the appetite for sharing experiences, good and bad, and thinking together about finding solutions.?A powerful expression of this was being part of a round table with a range of law firm leaders talking about the culture in their firms and the tough climate for attracting and retaining people. I was impressed with the honesty in the group, and their recognition that the ‘command and control’ style of management had had its day and that what their people want is to be understood and listened to.

I came away feeling that what those leaders got from the round table was more than just practical tips and insights, it was a sense of belonging, trust, and mutual understanding, that feeling they were all in this together, they were part of a community.

In these times of change, communities are our anchor, and the strength of our community is built on the contribution we can each make.?Building communities, be they in the workplace or in our wider professional networks, provides the soil to nurture the support system for our personal and collective growth that can help us cope during tough times.

There has been plenty of research, writing and airtime about the day-to-day challenges of life in the law. The all too familiar struggles with long hours, poor supervision, difficult colleagues, pressure to meet targets, the middle of the night worries about cases and clients, a world where the stakes are high and the culture unforgiving, and we all know that meeting the expectations of clients, colleagues and regulators can come at a cost. So much so that Instagram and TikTok are awash with memes poking fun at the daily grind of being a lawyer.

But it doesn’t have to be this way.

Imagine a culture in law where struggles with mental health are met with empathy and understanding, where those that have made a mistake can speak up openly without fear of repercussions, and where your people are thriving and feel they belong.

This is a tangible reality that can be achieved if we work collectively across education, practice and regulation to address those threadbare working practices that can undermine mental health and dismantle the stigma that means many struggle in silence and do not seek support. ?

We need your help to do this.

This week LawCare is taking part in the national matched giving campaign The Big Give where every pound donated is doubled. By donating to LawCare this week, this is your opportunity to make a profound impact on the lives of your colleagues and friends in our community and stand with us in fostering a culture in law that puts its greatest asset, our people, first. ?

Donating to LawCare is not just an act of charity, it is affirmation that we have a collective strength across our community in prioritising mental health and challenging stigma. It is an investment in creating the sustainable future we all want to see.

• Double your donation to LawCare now

LawCare is the only charity that works across the legal community throughout the UK to provide direct support to those struggling with the pressures of life in the law and champions the need to drive positive change in working culture. With a 24% increase in people turning to us for support (during the first 9 months of 2023) we are operating at stretched capacity. We rely on voluntary donations to fund our work and if every person who reads this newsletter donated ￡10 to LawCare, we would have the much-needed funds to recruit and support more volunteers to meet this increased demand.

Communities are a powerful force for change, we can’t change the past but with your help we can create the future. Please donate to our Christmas Challenge today.

Elizabeth Rimmer is the CEO of LawCare , the mental health charity for the legal sector.