For legal employers, setting clear expectations for new grads around their organisation’s aims and objectives, as well as “being curious” about new practitioners’ own goals and strengths, can mitigate some of the stress for grads starting new roles.

“Most college students are already working in the profession, and my observation is that lack of clarity about expectations gives rise to a great deal of additional stress in the workplace. The first step in effective supervision is to be clear about your own expectations and those of the organisation. Take after-hours communication, an issue that is commonly raised in class at the College by students; many new lawyers will think that they need to be ‘on’ all the time and respond promptly to your messages no matter what the time of day or night,” he said.

“If you do not expect an immediate reply during the night (you may simply want to send messages or emails when you think of them), make that clear to the employee. If you do require immediate replies after hours, make that clear – I’m not suggesting that this is good practice, simply focusing on clarity of communication in and about expectations.

“There will be many other possible subjects for discussion regarding expectations, including working hours, clarity about job role (lack of clarity being a psychosocial risk), flexibility (a much-valued aspect of contemporary work practices), what the new lawyer can expect from you in relation to supervision, including access and what you expect from the new lawyer in that relationship. It might be useful to develop a list in relation to expectations which can be used in the induction of each intake of new lawyers.”

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Having an absence of clear communication and a lack of guidelines, Appleby continued, can also have a negative effect on new lawyers – with “effective supervision” something legal employers should prioritise.

“Communication with new lawyers, which is clear, mindful, and kind, is a key aspect of supporting them, and supervisors have a pivotal role in this regard. I mention these three attributes because they create an environment of safety in which a new lawyer can continue to build their technical, communication and other skills.

“In a recent class, students were aghast when one of them related an experience in which they had made a mistake at work (we do not know the names of employees) and had been publicly belittled and berated. Not surprisingly, they moved to a new job. This is a clear example of poor supervision and also an example of what is likely to be an unsafe work environment and unsupportive of new lawyers,” he said.

“Early-career lawyers look to us to provide all sorts of guidance about work, including technical matters, communication skills, understanding of your organisation’s values and procedures, understanding of your organisation’s ethical climate. All of these will feed into their growing professional identities.”

In addition, employers must now also manage psychosocial risks for new lawyers – and according to Appleby, excessive workloads, role ambiguity, and unclear systems can be detrimental.

“Under relatively new regulations, employers must implement measures to eliminate psychosocial risks so far as is reasonably practical. These risks include poor design of work and poor management/supervision of work, which might lead to psychological injury. In the context of managing psychosocial risk, employers of new graduates will need to turn their attention to the design of their work,” he said.

“Subjects such as appropriate workload, clarity of role definition and the design of appropriate supervision will all need to be considered and documented. These should be reviewed regularly and adjusted where necessary. As law organisations, I am not sure that we have developed (for the most part) our thinking and processes in this area of psychosocial risk. This will be an interesting aspect of law practice to watch in the future.”

Moving forward, legal employers can offer positive feedback to graduates on new skills they are developing, communicate regularly about mental health and wellbeing and highlight mental health initiatives, including flexible work.

“My long experience teaching in PLT (simulated legal practice) tells me the best way to encourage new lawyers to grow is to be positive and be supportive. I have tried many different approaches, and this is the one that best achieves learning and growth. Being positive does not mean refraining from challenging a new lawyer’s logic, thinking or communication skills – but it does mean framing your comments differently.

“An error is an opportunity for growth and the development of skills. Suggesting that someone consider a different approach is much more likely to support development than a simple ‘wrong!’. It is not uncommon to hear that graduates (while working as clerks and paralegals) have their work corrected without reasons being given. This is a stressor. Why was it wrong? What should I do now? Explaining errors to new lawyers is an important part of their professional growth,” Appleby said.

“Most importantly, and students say that they really value this, check in with new lawyers to see how they are travelling and check on their workloads and do this on a regular basis.”