Legal mental health charity LawCare has announced a new wellbeing research study ‘Life in the Law’ ahead of World Mental Health Day on 10th October.
Life in the Law will become the largest piece of academic research into wellbeing in the legal industry in the UK and Ireland.
The charity has teamed up with leading academics in the field Dr Emma Jones (University of Sheffield), Professor Richard Collier (University of Newcastle), Caroline Strevens (Reader in Legal Education, University of Portsmouth) and Lucinda Soon (Solicitor and PhD researcher) along with Nick Bloy (Executive Coach and founder of Wellbeing Republic) and Kayleigh Leonie (LawCare trustee and solicitor), to develop the research study which will look at the impact of work culture and working practices on the wellbeing of legal professionals.
The research seeks to understand the day-to-day realities of life in the law and uses three academic research scales for burn-out, psychological safety and autonomy.
Anyone working in the legal industry, including support staff, can complete the online questionnaire across the UK, Ireland, UK, ROI, Channel Islands and Isle of Man. The results will form the basis of an academic paper and will be announced next year.
Elizabeth Rimmer, CEO of LawCare, said:
“This is the biggest ever piece of academic research into wellbeing in the legal industry in the UK and Ireland and we hope it will give us a clear picture of how the culture and practice of law affects mental health. The results will help us to improve the support available to legal professionals and drive long lasting change in legal workplaces so that people working in the law can thrive. We would urge anyone working in the legal profession to take part.”
Dr Emma Jones, Senior Lecturer in Law at the University of Sheffield, said:
“This study is an opportunity to obtain important empirical data on the wellbeing of legal professionals. The findings will give us a valuable insight into the impacts of legal practice and legal culture on individual legal practitioners, raise understanding and awareness of the key issues influencing wellbeing and help shape the development of appropriate and sustainable responses.”
To take part in the Life in the Law research project, visit lifeinthelaw.org.uk.
