Talk to LawCare: we understand life in the law

Are you wondering whether you’re cut out for life as a lawyer? Do you feel overwhelmed? Then LawCare is here for you. We’re the mental wellbeing charity for the whole legal profession, including students, trainees and junior lawyers. We offer free emotional support, peer support and resources. We also promote mental health and wellbeing best practices in legal workplaces.

Life in the law can be challenging, particularly if you’re at the beginning of your career. You might feel under pressure to study or work long hours to prove yourself. Law by its nature is hierarchical and you may find it difficult to speak up if you’re struggling for fear of showing weakness or being disadvantaged in some way.

In addition, the type of person that often goes into the law may have thinking styles that can hamper wellbeing. You might be a perfectionist and set very high expectations for yourself, which can make it hard to say ‘no’ to people. You might also find it hard to ask for help because you believe you should be able to cope on your own.

You’re not alone. Many other people in the legal community have faced similar situations and found themselves needing to talk.

We’re here to listen

If you’re struggling the most important thing is to talk about how you’re feeling – you’d be surprised how much better you’ll feel from just offloading. 

We all need someone to talk to about our worries without judgement and in confidence. When you’re in a difficult situation it’s easy to lose your problem-solving abilities; it can be impossible to focus and decide what you need to do. Sometimes a listening ear is all you need to move on.

It might not be easy for you to talk to family and friends about how you’re feeling. Perhaps you don’t want to worry them because they have their own problems. You might be of the mindset that they’ll find it hard to understand the pressures you’re facing or you might not want to seem ungrateful for all their help and financial support, so you feel like you can’t tell them that you’re feeling overwhelmed and stressed.

We’re here to listen with helpline calls, emails and online chats answered in confidence by trained staff and volunteers, all of whom have first-hand experience of working in the law. We understand life in the law and all its challenges – this is what makes our support service unique.

You can call our helpline on 0800 279 6888, email [email protected] or visit www.lawcare.org.uk for support. We’re open Monday to Friday, 9:00am to 5:00pm.

You can read LawCare Chief Executive Elizabeth Rimmer’s advice on establishing healthy habits early on via LawCareers.Net.

Peer support

If you’re struggling with an ongoing issue, we also have trained volunteer peer supporters who offer emotional support by telephone over a period of weeks or months. Our supporters all have first-hand experience of legal education, training and practice and lived experience of a difficult time in their personal or professional life so are well placed to help you. Our peer supporters reflect the diversity of the legal profession across the UK and are drawn from all branches of the legal profession and career stages. They’re from different age groups, genders, and ethnic groups.

Free LawCare resources

LawCare’s website has a range of resources on mental health and wellbeing including blogs, factsheets, podcasts and videos. These are free for you to read and share and include practical tips for managing and coping with life in the law.  They cover issues such as anxiety, bullying, sleep, stress, neurodiversity and bereavement.  

We also run webinars where you can hear from other members of the legal community about their experiences.  

We always promote our webinars, podcasts, events and new resources on our website and on social media (Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram). You can also sign up for our email newsletter, which includes information on upcoming events.

Fit for Law

You could also take one of LawCare’s free online courses for legal professionals which promote psychologically and emotionally healthier ways of working in the law. These Fit for Law courses are a collaboration between LawCare and academics at the University of Sheffield and The Open University:

• Part one is about managing and understanding yourself.
• Part two is about working with others.

Each course takes two to four hours in total to complete but is broken down into smaller sections and includes videos from legal professionals discussing wellbeing issues as well as a range of interactive activities.

Find out more about these Fit for Law courses via LawCare’s website.

Please make sure you enrol and login so you can complete the interactive activities and get a Statement of Participation on completion.

We understand life in the law

We hear from lots of junior lawyers, and we understand the legal professions is challenging. If you want emotional support, please get in touch so we can help you to navigate into practice successfully.

LawCare is the mental wellbeing charity for the legal community.