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As burnout and stress remain rampant within the legal profession, a partner at a national law asserts that integrating mindfulness into daily practice is no longer a luxury but a necessity for sustaining both success and wellbeing in the long run.
The legal profession is synonymous with high pressure, long hours, and demanding clients. While these factors have long been considered part and parcel of a lawyer’s career, the conversation around burnout has grown louder, underscoring the need for systemic and urgent change.
Speaking with Lawyers Weekly, Elizabeth Carroll, a partner at Holding Redlich, expressed that incorporating mindfulness into a lawyer’s daily routine, even for just 10 minutes, can deliver substantial benefits, including stress reduction, enhanced decision making, and improved workplace wellbeing.
Why mindfulness is crucial
With legal practice inherently involving “high-stress situations”, “meeting clients’ needs”, and “adversarial conflicts”, Carroll cautioned that without effective coping mechanisms, the sustained pressure can push lawyers to the brink of burnout.
Carroll compares a lawyer’s ability to perform at their best to their “window of tolerance”, a mental state in which they can effectively “manage emotions, think clearly, engage with others and navigate challenges”.
However, she explained that under extreme stress, the brain shifts into “survival mode”, activating primitive instinctual responses – commonly known as “fight, flight, or freeze”.
Carroll also noted that this shift diminishes the brain’s capacity for “rational thought”, causing the lawyer’s “thinking brain” to take a backseat. As a result, she explained how it makes it more difficult to “process complex information, regulate emotions, or consider long-term consequences”.
For legal professionals, Carroll emphasised the importance of preventing the brain from entering this state, as “maintaining access to “higher-level thinking is essential”. She explained that this cognitive clarity enables “clear reasoning, sound decision making, [and] problem solving”, all of which are essential for producing “for high-quality legal work”.
Mindfulness strategies for lawyers
Integrating mindfulness practices into a busy legal routine doesn’t require extensive time commitments, with Carroll explaining that employing simple, time-efficient techniques can be just as effective.
She outlined that some easily accessible options include “breathing exercises, micro-breaks, going for a walk at lunch, getting some sunshine, and stretching”.
Carroll explained that lawyers who take short “micro-breaks” throughout the day, even if lasting only 10 minutes or less, can help “improve concentration, reduce stress, boost energy, and prevent burnout”.
As a registered yoga teacher, Carroll shared that incorporating yoga into a lawyer’s daily routine has proven to be an effective mindfulness strategy, demonstrating benefits such as “reducing stress” and “enhancing decision making.”
She noted that the lawyers she has assisted in incorporating mindfulness practices, even something as simple as taking time to breathe mindfully, have experienced “a noticeable impact”.
What firms need to do
While it is crucial for lawyers to incorporate mindfulness practices, law firms must also take proactive measures to cultivate a workplace environment and culture that prioritises mental wellbeing for all employees.
Carroll outlined key strategies that law firms can implement to prioritise mindfulness, including:
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