Peter A Clarke

The jokes about lawyers are legion, usually running to how sub human and heartless they are.  A sample: What is black and brown and looks good on a lawyer A: A rottweiler.  And we laugh at the stereotypes ourselves.  So the sympathy factor is limited.

But….

..in today’s Times On line story Successful lawyer Catherine Bailey drowned herself there is a sad story about a lawyer who committed suicide.

The grind of a practice can be unbearable. Fortunately the pressure a barrister feels tends to reach a pitch then dissipates when a trial finishes or the paperwork has been completed.  It may never quite go but there is often a break in the clouds.  That said, I am aware of barristers taking their lives. For a partner or associate in a big law firm the pressure seems to be intense, unrelenting and merciless.  The tyranny of the timesheet has reached ridiculous proportions.  I recently heard of a firm requiring 7.5 billable hours per day. That means a minimum of 9 hours in the office without fail. More likely it means 12 hours when marketing, meetings and the usual administration comes into play.  With that sort of pressure why is the industry surprised that many graduates look around and say “No thanks.”  When a department in a law firm is described as a “profit centre” as a friend of mine once described (partner in a mid tier firm) and the solicitors are “units” (I do not jest) no surprises as to what is expected and the sort of understanding of human frailty is on offer.  As Silvio Dante said, in the Sopranos:

You’re only as good as your last envelope

There are firms which harbour a much more supportive role true.  There is still an awful long way to go to realise that solicitors have frailties and the strain of the job can be intense.   I think the profession is slowly realising that judging from the support services on offer.  Whether that has trickled down to the bean counters is another question..