4 Things That Burns Out Legal Teams (And Their Solutions)
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Legal teams face unique pressures, and that can make them more susceptible to stress than other teams.
While small amounts of stress are expected, research shows that professionals in the legal sector are significantly more likely to experience burnout than their counterparts in other industries. One study found that more than 90% of UK lawyers had experienced elevated stress levels, while 60% had experienced burnout.
They’re sobering numbers, but it’s also important to remember that stress rarely materialises out of nowhere; it has a cause, and in many cases, also has a solution. In this post, we’ll run through some of the most common causes of lawyer-related stress, as well as some ideas on how to minimise their impact.
Long Hours and Always On Culture
The legal industry has long adopted — and even glorified — long hours and the always-on culture that demands that legal professionals put in long shifts and are essentially available round-the-clock.
But times are beginning to change. Those strategies have more recently been viewed as a cause of increased stress levels, and leading firms are actively working to change the culture by offering better work-life balance. Many top firms now give their legal employees “protected time,” during which they cannot be contacted, as a way to encourage lawyers to get the rest and recuperation they need.
Never-Ending Document Review
Document review is one of the main causes of burnout in the legal field due to its combination of repetitiveness, importance, and monotony. While a legal professional can stomach document review for small periods, the sheer quantity of documents that legal professionals have to review can have a significant impact on stress levels.
Software is beginning to change that, however. AI-assisted review tools have rapidly sped up eDiscovery, transforming what was once a heavily time-consuming task into one that’s lightning fast. That’s not only removed one of the most frustrating tasks that lawyers have to deal with, but also freed up time that they can then spend doing value-adding tasks.
Admin Overload
Administrative responsibilities can be a significant cause of stress for legal professionals. Not only are these tasks low-value, but they also tend to be completed at the end of a busy workday. By that point, the lawyer simply wants to go home to rest, yet instead finds themselves spending a significant amount of time completing admin paperwork. Many lawyers get around this issue — or at least lighten their workload — by outsourcing jobs or using software tools.
Lack of Control Over Work
Lawyers can also experience burnout as a result of working on tasks for which they have no professional or inherent interest, yet must complete to a high standard. Lawyers who have a lack of autonomy over the type of work they do (plus how they do it) can become cynical and lose enthusiasm for their work, which keeps stress levels elevated. Fixing this issue is dependent on both organizational and individual changes; organizations must be transparent and offer flexible working arrangements, while individuals must set boundaries and take steps to reset their mental state throughout the day.