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2009 IN REVIEW Key trends: Mental health issues come to the fore
Although the high incidence of depression amongst lawyers in private practice has been highlighted as an issue for some time now, 2009 saw some strong commitments from law firms to structurally…
Although the high incidence of depression amongst lawyers in private practice has been highlighted as an issue for some time now, 2009 saw some strong commitments from law firms to structurally address the issue across their staff base.
In September, the managing partners of top-tier law firms presented a joint initiative to tackle depression at the annual Tristan Jepson Memorial Lecture.
Representatives from Clayton Utz, Allens, Mallesons, Blake Dawson and Freehills revealed they had been in "frank" and "honest" collaborative discussions on the issue of depression in law, and openly shared their own firm strategies for managing stress, anxiety and depression.
Freehills managing partner Peter Butler announced the collaboration, and admitted that the initiative was long overdue. "Is it just the case that it's an idea whose time has come? It deserves to be," he said.
Butler said the collaboration involved three central themes: The first was to share the programs that each believed were already working in their individual firms. The second involved an agreement to conduct a survey of young lawyers on what they believed their employers could do to help and share that information.
The third theme involved developing initiatives for early intervention of mental illness, as well as the dissemination of information and ideas for programs on stress, anxiety and depression.
Butler said there were no secrets in sharing this information, and that the fierce competition usually seen between these firms was forgotten in a bid to offer real solutions to the issue of depression in the law. "We didn't care [about rivalry]. We were going to openly share what we were doing in this space to make it better," he said.
The initiative received a warm reception from the crowd of 200 gathered as part of the annual Tristan Jepson Memorial lecture, as well as from the parents of Tristan Jepson - a law student who took his own life five years ago.
Other significant trends in the legal profession this year have included (click on link for a full examination of each trend):
>> Mid-tiers make their mark
>> Climate change on the horizon
>> The rise and rise of in-house
>> Speaking out about outsourcing
>> Too many city lawyers highlights rural shortage
>> Alternatives for billings methods gain momentum
>> The trend to business-minded lawyers
>> Mental health issues come to the fore
>> Workplace relations tug of war
>> Big firms place freeze on salaries
