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7 out of 10 legal professionals demand better work-life balance
Despite efforts being made by some firms, new research has revealed the majority of legal professionals still think more attention needs to be paid in promoting greater work-life balance.
Emma Musgrave
According to the 2019 GlobalX and Australasian Legal Practice Management Association (ALPMA) industry report, “protecting and improving the mental health of legal professionals continues to be a challenge for the industry”.
GlobalX drew on the research at recent ALPMA Summit, during which the team won a hackathon for formulating a standardised wellness practice model, dubbed Well Practice, designed to support the mental health of legal professionals.
“While concerns about work-life balance and mental health in the legal industry have been anecdotally reported for many years now, this year’s survey results and the popularity of our hackathon concept reinforce just how widespread these concerns are,” said GlobalX national manager of matter centre David Favretto, who lead the hackathon team in creating Well Practice.
“In the same way that law firms protect their computer systems by installing firewalls, they should be protecting their staff by investing in programs and other opportunities to improve mental health,” he said.
“Working in the legal profession is incredibly rewarding, but there’s no question that it can also be challenging and stressful at times.
“Our team is incredibly proud of Well Practice and we look forward to continuing to develop this resource over time to address concerns about wellbeing in the Australian legal industry.”
GlobalX CEO Peter Maloney said that Well Practice comes at a critical time within the industry.
“The hackathon team found that 90 per cent of respondents believe there should be a wellness practice across the industry, but less than half of law firms currently have programs like these,” he said.
“At GlobalX, we have worked hard to cultivate a strong and supportive internal culture, and we believe that a healthy work-life balance is essential for our employees and our organisation.
“We would be delighted to see this focus on wellbeing extend throughout the legal profession, and I’m proud that the GlobalX team has used the hackathon to take the first steps in creating a resource that can be used by law firms across the countries to ensure that their employees feel happy, healthy and supported in the workplace.”
Emma Musgrave
Emma Musgrave (née Ryan) is the managing editor, professional services at Momentum Media.
Emma has worked for Momentum Media since 2015, including five years spent as the editor of the company's legal brand - Lawyers Weekly. Throughout her time at Momentum, she has been responsible for breaking some of the biggest stories in corporate Australia. In addition, she has produced exclusive multimedia and event content related to the company's respective brands and audiences.
Prior to joining Momentum Media, Emma worked in breakfast radio, delivering news to the Central West region of NSW, before taking on a radio journalist role at Southern Cross Austereo, based in Townsville, North Queensland.
She holds a Bachelor of Communications (Journalism) degree from Charles Sturt University.
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