Lawyers under Pressure
The constraints of current resourcing in both public and independent sectors of legal work are putting pressure on lawyers attempting to deliver good quality services to their clients, whose needs are always expanding . Stress generated malady is on the rise amongst lawyers as they endeavor to balance mounting insistence on profitable outcomes at work with home life. The well documented alcohol abuse problem amongst legal experts is now joined by drug addiction as coping mechanisms for an increasing number of stressed attorneys and legal professionals.
In Oct 2008, The Times online ran an article on stress in the legal profession as follows:
“LawCare, a charity that helps lawyers with work-related health problems such as stress, depression and addictive illnesses … says 30 per cent of male lawyers and 20 per cent of female lawyers drink to excess. This year it has opened 369 new cases, which already easily exceeds last year’s 301. It handles 1,500 calls a year. Three in four of its calls are from lawyers suffering from severe stress. “
In July 2009 Vanessa Lloyd Pratt, a former lawyer herself informed readers:
“It is little wonder to me that the levels of alcoholism and addiction among lawyers has climbed steadily over the past few years with helplines jammed with distressed lawyers, particularly women. While women in other professions may face similar difficulties, what is unique to the legal profession is the intense costs targets that involve long working hours and competitive strategies. We have all seen films that emphasise those pressures such as The Firm. These targets are not just the stuff of fiction but are a reality — particularly during the recession in which some of the biggest legal firms in the world have collapsed and senior management have been ousted. It is little wonder that the buzzword around legal offices is “fear”.”
Response by Employers
It is becoming imperative that public and private sector employers strive to mitigate the effects of mental pressure on their legal professionals, even if only from a self serving motive. Once legal professionals are involved heavily with drink or drugs, it may be too late to rectify the situation from an employer’s perspective and it is certainly too late from the lawyer’s point of view. From drink and drugs policy implementation, to meditation to home working to on site gyms, forward thinking councils and firms are beginning to offer stress reducing programs and flexibility. One of the most easily implemented techniques is to improve communication and working practices in the office, often through the use of IT. When implementing new systems in the department, it is often the intention to improve working practices, but all too often it results in yet more stress for lawyers. Some legal departments are turning to case management software for part of the solution.
Use Case Management Software as Part of Stress Reduction
Discovering legal case management software that unleashes diligent legal teams from background activities in order to tend properly to client care and excellence is of increasing significance to legal professionals in both public and private areas. Very few legal departments can concentrate effectively on clients if they are handling considerable case loads and trying to find information, disseminating documents etc in an inefficient manner in addition to juggling outside commitments. The risk of allowing key dates to escape unregarded or of dropping the ball in some case or matter increases with the difficulties produced by dealing with the ever increasing online and hard copy paperwork born of letters, court documents and computers.
Case management software is not all of equal value. Much of it started out as legal accountants’ software and therefore does not perform all the tasks required of it nowadays. New advances have resulted in case management software that records time expended on clients, speeds up document creation, upcoming dates and appointments are highlighted and also permits collaborative working and produces management reports with ease to manage risk. Some case management systems even assist Lexcel compliance. This is the type of case management software that may enable a reduction in stress amongst solicitors and litigators.
Case management software that is developed for today’s lawyer and legal staff can play a role in lowering the likelihood of stress at work as part of a package of measures.