Lawyer Burnout: Personal Problem vs. Structural Flaws in the Legal Industry

Pressure to produce flawless work, building significant hours to get recognized, feelings of guilt if you need to step away, high stakes for clients — these are just some of the stressors that have led attorneys, in study after study, to report high levels of burnout and mental health challenges.

Despite the prevalence of work-related burnout in the legal community, “I think it’s still a really hard topic for lawyers to discuss,” says Melinda Arbuckle, founding partner of the Wage and Hour Firm in Dallas, Texas. “There’s still a lot of stigma and concern that if you’re honest about the job being tough, that’ll put you in a bad light.” 

But silence on the issue in competitive work environments can exacerbate burnout for attorneys who feel they’re going it alone.

As a legal malpractice attorney and founding partner of a boutique law firm in Los Angeles, Courtney E. Curtis-Ives sees burnout in both colleagues and clients who are lawyers. A big part of the problem that continues today is that “symptoms of burnout have been viewed as badges of honor,” she says.

Pressures of Legal Success Often Lead to Burnout

Burnout is often viewed as a personal failing, though ironically, the behaviors that lead to burnout are tied to traditional understandings of success in legal practice.

“Our profession has celebrated exhaustion. Whoever billed the most hours or slept the least or sacrificed the most was deemed the most dedicated,” says Curtis-Ives. “We tell young lawyers that success is partnership and a corner office. But I’ve watched conventionally successful attorneys become deeply unwell. 

Instead of seeing burnout as a sign of personal failure — or a mark of professional commitment — it’s time to see it as a structural problem within law firms and the legal industry, Curtis-Ives says.

“When we lose talented attorneys to anxiety and depression and substance abuse, we’re not demonstrating our toughness. We’re demonstrating our shortcomings in addressing all of our colleagues’ struggles.”

Redefining Success in Legal Careers

Understandings of legal success — and expectations of long hours, heavy workloads, and chronic stress in pursuit of that success — start to form well before someone actually practices law.

“Mental health issues don’t begin when someone passes the bar. They begin in the first semester of law school,” says Curtis-Ives. “If we’re serious about addressing mental health concerns and lawyer well-being, we should start at the beginning, redefining what it means to be successful as a lawyer. We owe it to the next generation of lawyers to offer a wider definition of what it means to thrive.”

That also includes setting realistic expectations of what legal practice actually looks like, adds Arbuckle. Despite stereotypes of attorney affluence or power, “At the end of the day, this is a service business,” she says. “We have to be there for clients. The search for ‘balance’ is often an illusion that can make you feel more bitter.”

What Burnout Looks Like for Lawyers

Burnout negatively affects lawyers’ personal lives and professional profiles. In fact, as work-life balance erodes, the personal and professional blend together.

“There are times when what’s being demanded of you by your colleagues, your client, or yourself is just too much,” Arbuckle says. “You can feel your body shutting down. You’re trying to do something, and you just can’t quite seem to do it.”

How does an attorney know burnout is happening? It looks different for every person, but there are some common indicators. For Arbuckle, the watchword is apathy.

“Apathy is the most dangerous place to get to. There’s the kind of burnout where you just ‘don’t want to,’ but can push yourself. But then there’s the scary kind where you start telling yourself, ‘What does my work even matter?’”

Many aspects of legal work can bring an attorney to a place of feeling defeated, whether it’s legal developments at large or the outcome of a particular client’s case. “Right now, I especially worry about colleagues in immigration law. Their nervous systems are constantly on a hair-trigger. They’re in a constant state of trauma with clients.”

Effects of Legal Burnout

Being a lawyer is a duty-bound profession, Arbuckle says. “Sometimes what keeps you going is the duty. But when the duty is not enough, you have to look for alternatives.” That can mean relationships, perspectives, hobbies, or commitments outside the echo chamber of legal practice.

But sometimes, coping mechanisms lead to more burnout, in a downward spiral. “Substance abuse is one of the worst-kept secrets in the profession,” says Curtis-Ives. “Lawyers experience alcohol use disorders at much higher rates than the general population. Yet we treat it as a moral failing rather than an occupational hazard.”

Burnout is also a major factor in the legal malpractice cases that Curtis-Ives defends. “Clients hire attorneys for our judgment, but judgment is a perishable resource. A sleep-deprived, emotionally depleted attorney is not giving clients their best counsel, even if the legal briefs are technically correct,” she says.

“In my malpractice work, I can read a client’s emails and see exactly what was going on. It’s clear when a lawyer was having a tough week or wasn’t at the top of their game.”

Addressing Attorney Burnout: A Structural Approach

Attorneys noticed a shift toward acknowledging burnout as a structural issue in the legal industry rather than an individual failing at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic. “Remote work didn’t create the problem; it revealed it. The structure that had been masking these problems was stripped away,” says Curtis-Ives.

Law firms wanted to provide mental health support, but often only on a surface level. “Providing a mindfulness app for stress management is well-intentioned, but doesn’t address an attorney fielding client calls at midnight or preparing for trial on four hours of sleep while raising a family. Wellness initiatives without structural change are just window dressing.”

As a law firm partner herself, Curtis-Ives says that the necessary structural changes are leadership’s responsibility. “Senior partners set the culture. The most powerful thing a leader can do is model the behavior: Take real vacations, set boundaries out loud, be transparent when we struggle. Silence from the top is permission for the pressure to continue.”

The Role of Legal Mentorship and Support

Likewise, seasoned attorneys and legal educators who have personally experienced burnout can mentor law school students and young attorneys, inculcating better practices and conceptions of what it means to be successful as an attorney.

While there may not be a solution to burnout, in the sense of eliminating it altogether, support and healing are often relational and law firm-specific. It’ll look different depending on the practice area, law firm size, clientele, and many other factors.

“I’ve been lucky to have a law firm partner with whom I can be extremely honest and who doesn’t judge me when I say, ‘I’m at the end,’” says Arbuckle. “I always feel a level of guilt when I need help, but my partner reminds me that I do the same for them. More lawyers could stand to be reminded: You have been there for so many people; it’s time for people to be there for you.”

To learn more about resources in the legal community, visit the American Bar Association’s (ABA) Commission on Lawyer Assistance Programs.