Despite improvements in revenue and billable hours over the past 12 months, law firms may be losing revenue from decreased employee productivity, absenteeism, and attrition associated with poor well-being, according to a recent survey.
The 2024 State of Wellbeing in Law survey by Unmind included responses from 4,400 lawyers from nine mid-sized law firms in the U.S. and U.K. It builds on the 2023 survey (which we covered here).
The survey found that almost one in five lawyers said work harms their mental health, and almost 19% of their time at work is negatively affected by poor mental health.
These challenges can lead to law firms losing $33,336,720 annually, or just over 10% of staffing costs — an increase of about 0.5% from 2023.
Additionally, the survey found that associates, younger employees, and female employees experience higher stress levels, lower well-being, and lower psychological safety compared to their older and male counterparts.
The survey asked lawyers 24 questions about several aspects of mental health and collected data about workplace performance from the law firms.
Based on this data, the survey report provides recommendations for how legal organizations can address employee well-being challenges, including using AI.
Loss of productivity and the bottom line
Like last year, the survey found that “presenteeism,” or the proportion of time at work that is negatively affected by poor well-being, accounts for up to 70% of lost costs.
Stress, lack of fulfillment (or job satisfaction), and lack of firm support were the biggest contributors to presenteeism.
Highly stressed employees are 3.7 times less likely to meet client demands, the survey said.
Supervisor support and psychological safety
The survey report said that almost a third of U.S. and U.K. professionals believe that talking openly about mental health to their supervisors could harm their chance of progress (28%) or that they are concerned about the confidentiality of mental health discussions with supervisors (27%).
Further, one in three employees do not trust their senior leaders to make decisions that prioritize employee well-being, an 11% increase from last year’s survey.
The survey report said that, for the second year in a row, responses signaled a need for action from law firm leadership.
When employees feel psychologically safe — or secure in taking risks, acknowledging mistakes or concerns, and engaging in difficult conversations — they are nearly five times more likely to be confident about their career progression and opportunities, the report said.
Moreover, employees who feel supported by their managers are nine times more likely to say that work positively impacts their well-being, compared to those who don’t feel supported.
This is similar to findings from the Commission’s recent Bullying in the Legal Profession study, in which lawyers said they are looking to law firm leaders to set the tone for respectful workplace cultures, with one lawyer respondent saying, “Senior staff must model appropriate behavior.”
Can AI improve attorney well-being?
The survey report includes several recommendations for law firms and the wider legal sector to use to address the challenges found in the report.
The first recommendation is to balance demand with resources. The survey report defines demand as sources of emotional or physical stress in our roles, such as high workloads, role ambiguity, or poor relationships.
Resources are positive areas of our work that help us tackle these demands, reduce stress, and achieve goals, such as leadership training and access to high-quality therapy, the survey report said.
Second, firms should invest in and integrate professional support by providing trainings and drafting policies with well-being in mind, for example.
Third, firms should make mental health a compulsory part of leadership development, through training and encouraging leaders to model self-care and peer support.
Fourth, for the first time, the survey report recommended that law firms use AI to support employee development and well-being. For example, the report said that the technology can be used to streamline tasks like translating or reviewing documents, freeing up employee time to focus on more satisfying work.
The survey report suggests that law firms should ensure all employees develop baseline AI skills, and then provide opportunities for them to expand their learning as the technology develops.
Finally, the survey report recommended that firms support female and younger employees by finding and addressing challenges specific to those groups and offering targeted resources like mentoring, skills development, and professional coaching.
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