A working group will be established to aid lawyers in getting professional help
New UK Bar Council Chief Barbara Mills KC is looking to prioritize mental wellbeing for barristers, reported the Law Society Gazette.
“It seems to me that whilst much is said about wellbeing now, the emphasis remains centred around crisis management. What I would like to see in the profession is wellbeing losing its stigma as a sign of weakness and elevated to the same non-negotiable level as having an accountant or having insurance,” Mills said in her inaugural speech at Inner Temple.
She pointed out that barristers’ work was intense and put them under significant pressure, particularly those who were exposed to client trauma and distress.
“If you add the relentless pressure and high expectations, the competitiveness required of barristers and the repercussions in an adversarial process of showing any weakness, it is little wonder that this can lead to chronic and unmanageable fatigue, burnout and illness if left unchecked,” Mills warned in a statement published by the Gazette.
Mills was called to the bar in 1990 – a time when mental health, wellbeing, childcare, or menopause were not openly discussed, she said.
“Any barrister who thought to complain about being under stress would have been met with a derisory snort and encouraged in the direction of a stiff gin and tonic in Daly's after work,” she said in a statement published by the Gazette.
Mills presented an example of how a civil practitioner undergoing therapy could not claim the costs as a tax-deductible expense like in other practice-related work. She also referred to a conversation with a criminal barrister who did not know how to get professional help and expressed concern about the cost.
“Other professions with similar pressures have incorporated systems which support their members’ wellbeing. I would like to explore ways to offer barristers coaching or supervision – which provides the barrister with the opportunity to have regular confidential check-ins with a professional,” Mills said in a statement published by the Gazette.
The bar council chief confirmed that a working group would be established to identify and trial options for lawyers to access professional help.
