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Lawyers Weekly is pleased to welcome Olympic champion Ian Thorpe AM for a keynote address at its second annual Partner Summit.
The Partner Summit, produced in partnership with Thomson Reuters, will be held on Thursday, 12 June 2025, at The Star, Sydney, for a national forum of learning, collaboration, and reflection. Click here to buy tickets.
Nine-time Olympic medalist Ian Thorpe AM will join the 2025 Partner Summit for an exclusive keynote designed to break down how partners can tackle mental health at the heights of leadership.
Thorpe is Australia’s most decorated male Olympian with nine Olympic medals, including five gold. However, even at the pinnacle of success, Thorpe struggled with his mental health.
Despite winning his first Olympic gold at just 17 years old, Thorpe shares the emotional battle he was experiencing at the time: “As a teenager, I was struggling with my own mental health and the feeling that I was not able to fit into this world,” Thorpe told Adidas.
“Even in the lead-up to some of my greatest accomplishments in the pool, I was struggling as an individual to be able to just succeed at normal life.”
Mental health in the legal profession
Legal professionals are at higher risk of mental health struggles compared to the general population. Lawyering stress and work culture: an Australian study found that between 26 and 32 per cent of survey participants reported moderate to extremely severe symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress.
Another study from the US assessing the link between lawyer stress and suicidal thoughts found that 66 per cent of respondents said their career had been detrimental to their mental health. The report also found that almost half (46 per cent) of respondents said they were considering leaving the legal profession because of overwhelming stress or burnout.
Despite a significant portion of the profession experiencing some levels of depression, anxiety and stress, the stigma surrounding mental health remains a significant barrier. This can be particularly difficult for partners to navigate when operating in the highest echelons of a business.
Reflecting on his own experience with battling stigma around seeking support, Thorpe told The Saturday Telegraph that during his swimming career, the team “had a team psychologist, but people felt that if you saw him, then you had an issue”.
Fortunately for Thorpe, he was able to overcome his fears of judgement and seek support from the team psychologist. He told the publication that “the attitude to mental health was very different back then, although we do still have some way to go in breaking down the stigma”.
In his keynote address, the swimming legend will explore how partners can navigate mental health at the heights of leadership.
Thorpe will draw on his personal experience in battling depression and self-doubt to provide a rare insight into what worked for him, offering strategies partners can emulate in their own lives and careers.
His keynote will provide attendees an opportunity to reflect on their own approach to mental health, as well as the way their organisation approaches workplace wellbeing.
To hear from Ian Thorpe AM on tackling mental health at the heights of leadership, attend the 2025 Partner Summit 2025.
Run in partnership with principal partner Thomson Reuters, the summit will take place on Thursday, 12 June 2025, at The Star, Sydney. Click here to buy tickets.
To learn more about the summit, including the speakers and agenda, click here.
Jerome Doraisamy is the managing editor of Lawyers Weekly and HR Leader. He is also the author of The Wellness Doctrines book series, an admitted solicitor in New South Wales, and a board director of the Minds Count Foundation.
You can email Jerome at:
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Jerome Doraisamy
