Bar Wellbeing

Rachel Spearing reviews the results from the Bar Council’s first survey of the wellbeing of the profession  

The Bar, by its very nature, is a stressful place to work, regardless of Call, practice area or status and we are all aware of the levels of stigma associated with displaying any sign of weakness.  

The life of the self-employed barrister; the background to, and results of, the recent Bar Council “Wellbeing Survey”; what was revealed; and the action now needed.  

No-one has ever suggested that life at the Bar is easy.  

Barristers have responded in record numbers to the Bar’s wellbeing survey, the first of its kind to assess the mental health of a whole profession in any country.  

Over 2,500 members of the profession responded to the survey, conducted in October and November last year, which far surpassed the original target of 300. 

A day in the life of a single mother at the Bar. By Gulshanah Choudhuri  

A typical day would see me crawling from my bed at around 7am, asking the girls to get up. Once the mele of breakfast is sorted, uniforms on, rucksacks packed, I head off to two different schools for my daughters. Rayhanah, aged 5, attends a private school not far from her sister, Ambreen, aged 8 and a half, whose school is a mile down the road. She is bright and sociable and attends a mainstream school, despite her having Down’s Syndrome. She’s very in tune to the day I’m at court or at work as I will have departed from my normal attire of tracksuit bottoms and make-up free face to other end of the spectrum: power suit, make up and jewellery, statement heels. Her reaction is always: “Work Mummy? Beautiful Mummy, like a princess,” followed by: “who pick you up?” 

Stress remains the most common reason for calls to LawCare, the advisory and support service for the legal profession.  

Of the 378 case files opened in 2012, 42 were for barristers. Nineteen barristers (45 per cent) called about stress; 10 (24 per cent) about depression, seven (17 per cent) about alcohol; one (two per cent) about drugs; and five (10 per cent) were listed as “other”. 

Terence Mowschenson QC explains the work of the BBA  

The Barristers’ Benevolent Association (BBA) exists to support, help and comfort those members of the Bar in England and Wales, including the judiciary, who are in need, in distress or in difficulties. Founded in 1873, the BBA has helped barristers and their families in every circuit. The criteria are that the applicant is needy and worthy. The aim is, wherever possible, to overcome the problem and rebuild the applicant’s life, dignity and career. 

Profession
Lord Neuberger, President of the Supreme Court, in his keynote speech welcomed the opportunity which the Bar Council Disability Conference gave to play an important part ‘in enabling chambers and individual barristers to learn from’ examples of ‘reasonable adjustments which lawyers in general, and members of the Bar in particular, should be making so as to render access to justice properly accessible for all’. 

Where can a lawyer turn to when managing drink, work and life proves hard? LawCare explains how it is here to help.  

When you think of an alcoholic, do you think of a shambling, slurring, dishevelled individual, living rough and existing from drink to drink, or do you think of a well-respected partner in a successful law firm or a barrister winning cases? It may be because the first portrait is the popular public perception that only around 7% of calls to LawCare’s free and confidential helpline are from, or about, alcoholic lawyers.