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Doing more with fewer resources, often being isolated from working remotely, often feeling undervalued or ignored – sources of career stress and burnout vary for in-house lawyers, many of whom leave out of dissatisfaction Find new roles.
A group of in-house legal executives said this puts a greater onus on managers to monitor signs of burnout and step in forcefully to help.
“Burnout is a crisis in the legal industry, both in the United States and abroad,” said Amanda Rubio, attorney and director of Axiom’s enterprise technology practice. Rubio chaired the Jan. 16 meeting group discussion Join three in-house consultants to explore practical strategies for avoiding and identifying stress and burnout.
According to a July 2024 Axiom survey of 300 in-house lawyers, approximately 97% of in-house lawyers experience stress and burnout, with 39% classifying the condition as severe. In addition to the human toll of this stress, general counsel and their teams will also have to deal with attrition and employee turnover if they don't address these issues, the panel noted.
Richard Buckley says one of the biggest sources of workplace stress since the 2020 global pandemic has been the expansion of remote work, with professionals learning how to navigate “clear boundaries around time and work availability.” Feel". is chief legal and risk officer at London-based electronic payments company Modulr.
“Sometimes you pick a call at 7:30 because that’s your workout time. Should you really take that call?” said Nicole Olsman, chief legal officer and head of sustainability at Linxon, a global construction and energy company.
Lawyers also tend to take their jobs seriously and feel responsible for helping the firm and their colleagues, which can lead to increased workloads. "When you're at the end of the day or the end of the week, there's always more to do," he said.
Olsman said many attorneys also bring "a sense of wanting to maintain ownership of what's been handed to us" to their work because of the need to see the task or project completed correctly. As a result, she said, many lawyers are not good at delegating tasks.
Maintaining workplace flexibility during the workday and weeks is also an important component of coping with attorney stress, the panel noted. Most people know what needs to be done and the deadlines. Managers should also be aware that most businesses have cycles where companies ask legal staff to handle heavy workloads and other times that are less busy.
Recognizing and working within these cycles is critical for legal managers to identify and communicate, said Femi Giwa, chief legal officer at Salsify, a software-as-a-service company for digital merchants.
“Make sure the team knows there are times to speed up and focus on the work cycle, but other times make sure they know it’s time to take a break,” he said. “Burnout occurs when there is no respite and there is a need to accelerate.”
Olsman said in-house lawyers are the "doers behind the scenes" who often feel overlooked when a company closes a big deal or achieves a major business success. More often, she noted, "when things don't go well, the legal team gets the spotlight."
Because of this, Olsman said, legal leaders should "give recognition and appreciation where it's due and make sure leadership is aware" of the lawyers or teams working on specific projects.
Managers supervising remote employees must also take extra care during weekly check-in meetings to spot early signs and red flags of burnout by asking more questions and leaving space for conversation. A common workplace question around the world — "How are you?" — isn't enough, Buckley said.
"It's important to ask the question a second time," he said. "People will superficially say, 'I'm fine, thank you.' You have to dig deeper and further" to help attorneys begin to communicate where they're stressed and where they need help.
Additionally, it may be wise to insist on turning on your camera during these calls. "It's a small thing," Buckley said, but "you see a lot" of stress and frustration on that guy's face.
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