Act now and lead the way to a sustainable future.
The report sets out practical steps towards a healthier future and shows how, with strong leadership and decisive action, wellbeing can be embedded into everyday legal practice.
From January to March 2025, LawCare surveyed individuals and organisations across the sector about how working in law is affecting mental health and wellbeing. The findings confirm both the scale of the challenge and the urgency for action:
- 56% said they could see themselves leaving their current workplace within the next five years, with 32% saying they could leave the sector entirely.
- Nearly 60% reported poor mental wellbeing.
- Almost 79% said they regularly work beyond their contracted hours.
- Only 31% of people who managed others said that their targets or billable hours were adjusted to take into account the time they need to spend managing others or undertaking appropriate training.
Report recommendations
Without decisive action from leaders, the sector risks losing people, declining mental health, and a loss of public trust and confidence.
The report highlights the evidence-based steps that can improve working practices in legal workplaces to better protect mental health and wellbeing:
- Prevent burnout by actively managing workloads, rethinking targets and incentives, and challenging the culture of long hours.
- Prioritise and value managing people.
- Embed hybrid and flexible working practices that meet diverse needs.
- Evaluate programmes and activities that support mental health and wellbeing at work to ensure they deliver real impact.
- Equip people joining the sector with the skills and knowledge they need for a sustainable legal career.
A call to the whole sector
LawCare calls on every firm, every chambers, every in-house team, every courtroom, every professional body, every regulator, every educational organisation, every insurer, every individual and every leader to step up and take action to create a sustainable sector – one that inspires trust, is progressive, and above all, values its people as its greatest strength.
In 2026 LawCare will start a programme of engagement to develop resources and training to support leaders and organisations to put these recommendations into practice.
Find out more by joining LawCare’s Let’s talk about Life in the Law 2025 webinar on Wednesday 12 November, 12 to 1pm. Sign up here.
Additional information
Here’s a link to the Life in the Law 2025 press release that was shared on 1 October 2025.
Social media images
Please share about Life in the Law 2025 on social media. Here is a link to LawCare’s LinkedIn post about the launch of the report on 1 October 2025.
We’d love for you to share your own posts about the report. To make it easier, here are some images you can use:
