Stress at the Bar

How prevalent is stress at the Bar?

Sam Mercer (head of equality and diversity at the Bar Council): Psychological wellbeing within the profession (and mental health more generally) is rarely spoken about, yet within the Bar's relatively small community everyone can be affected by their own or their colleagues' poor mental health.

The Bar, by its very nature, is a stressful place to work. Cases can present challenges at short notice and self-employed practice can be an isolating experience, with the result that barristers are acutely at risk from performance-inhibiting factors. Yet we operate in an environment where it is perceived to be professionally 'fatal' to reveal any weaknesses.

Hilary Tilby (chief executive of LawCare and dually qualified as a barrister and solicitor): Generally, members of the Bar are exhibiting high levels of stress due to the pressures of life in practice.

Looking at the last 18 months of case files relating to members of the Bar, it is impossible not to be struck by the huge range of issues raised. However, certain problems raise their heads more regularly than others.

And what are these issues?

Hilary: In 2013, 79 per cent of Bar calls received by LawCare related to stress and/or depression, with 14 per cent concerning alcohol and 7 per cent relating to 'other,' for example, eating disorders, obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) and panic attacks. Of those who reported alcohol as an issue, 71 per cent were male and 29 per cent were female.

Financial difficulties feature regularly in the calls to our helpline. Pupils are struggling to pay off student loans while having to pay bills, being deeply in debt and owing substantial sums to HMRC, to being in dire financial straits due to the lack of publicly funded work.

Some are so badly in debt that they are facing a court hearing concerning an unpaid mortgage. Being under a lot of pressure because of the decrease in work and subsequent finances becomes a disastrous situation.

Is this something you've experienced, Lina?

Lina Mattsson (barrister practising from Hardwicke): I would agree, this is the most stressful part that I've felt, coming from a small set and having done my 12 months [pupillage] with a set that paid me £833 per month which was the minimum. It's gone up a little bit now but it's still so little money. I couldn't pay my rent or actually get to court on that money. You work so hard as a pupil. The predicament for the Bar of course is that if the sum that chambers pay for their pupils goes up, then fewer chambers are going to be able to afford it, particularly in family and crime. They're not going to be able to sustain a pupil.

What is the solution for this?

Lina: What my chambers, Hardwicke, did with my third sixth, was provide guaranteed earnings. It's a loan, so it's interest free, but they guarantee that they would pay out £40,00 in the first year and £50,000 in the second. I took
it for the first three months and never
needed it after that.

It's okay for my chambers because it's a large commercial set, but it has made a huge difference to my life. I can get a mortgage on the back of it, which otherwise unless you have three years of good accounts, you'd never get at the bottom of the Bar.

I don't know how it would work in reality, but if other chambers could look at it as an idea. It makes the world of difference. I never needed it after my third month, it was just a cash flow. Every junior gets it for two years, it can be extended and you can pay it back on flexible terms.

Can you elaborate on the alcohol abuse mentioned previously?

Hilary: Alcohol abuse has figured more prominently than in the past, with callers binge drinking. Callers are drinking too much in order to cope with personal and professional disappointments, occasionally using recreational drugs and cocaine, and drinking heavily to cope with disappointments and upsets in personal and professional life.

Lina: I've not had that problem at all at my current chambers but I have experienced heavy drinking at my last set where everyone went drinking after work. It's particularly hard when you're a pupil because everyone buys you drinks, you're expected to drink, and you're not supposed to pay for any drinks because you're a pupil.

I am aware of the issue, and there are chambers who could potentially look at their consumption. But that's the same in most areas of City work.

It's not something that I personally have come across as an issue but I can see how it could be in certain sets. It depends very much on the culture, because as a junior you are expected to be so social on top of everything else.

How does the workload mixed with the culture affect practitioners?

Sam: Recent research (the Barristers' Working Lives Survey 2013) showed that over half of the participants reported being emotionally drained by their
work. Moreover, 65 per cent told us that
they often felt they were under too much
work pressure. Clearly, there is more that needs to be done to support barristers to recognise and manage work pressures if they are to avoid adverse effects on their wellbeing.

Hilary: Stress and bullying is also a factor. Many have difficulty in coping with practice, become too emotionally involved in cases due to being overwrought and stressed. The amount of drinking mentioned above leads to interference with work and home life. Barristers find themselves making mistakes, having panic attacks about going to court, and become unable to sleep or manage time properly.

Lina: There is this huge amount of stress that when you go to court you must perform on the day but you may have had very little time with the papers beforehand.

You must love it - the stress and responsibilities. The way to make it a little less stressful is to be a specialist. Specialise quite early, because if at least it's your area, you can stay on top of the case law, changes made, you will do the same hearings over and over again, you'll get familiar with the procedure, how the court approaches certain issues and what the orders judges usually give. There's nothing worse than being thrown into a new setting - you don't know how things are usually done.

What is the Bar Council doing to tackle these issues, Sam?

Sam: The Bar Council, in partnership with the Inns of Court, the Circuits, the Specialist Bar Associations and the Institute of Barristers' Clerks are working together to take a fresh and positive approach to mental health.

We are adopting proven strategies such as 'normalising' mental health and positioning wellbeing as managing your talent, capacity and capability, and as being essentially about 'sustaining performance'.

Over the next few months we will be working to increase recognition of - and investment in - wellbeing on the back of research which will be conducted within the profession. This research will seek to identify unique individual and environmental workplace risk factors at the Bar. We then plan to develop resources to equip equality and diversity officers and others in chambers to support colleagues, and to educate individuals with the practical cognitive and behavioural tools which they need to recognise, and address, unhealthy behaviours.

Hilary, what are your thoughts?

Hilary: There are no universal panaceas for such problems. Each issue is individual to a particular caller and LawCare staff will talk it through to
help that caller find a way forward.

Referral to counselling, treatment facilities, and sources of financial help will also be recommended as appropriate. There is no such thing as a stress free life in the 21st century, but LawCare exists to help barristers manage stress and prevent illness and addiction taking hold and ruining a life and career.