Lawyer Sabbaticals: A way to reduce burnout and errors?
Much has been written about the poor mental health among members of the legal professions. I have been speaking and writing about finding possible systemic solutions to this problem – one which I have suffered from personally.
At the time this blog is published, I will be far away from my office on sabbatical. I decided this year to take a four-month sabbatical over the summer and into the fall. I did so after my senior associate suggested it as an option. He had a very stressful career before law as an officer in the Canadian Armed Forces. Taking sabbaticals is relatively common in the military and is an accepted practice to maintain one’s mental health. I have come to believe that it is a practice that legal professionals should embrace.
In Canada, sabbaticals are most common in the academic world. However, more and more industries and high stress professions are considering sabbaticals as a healthy concept. Many large US law firms started embracing the concept of sabbaticals in the 1960s and 1970s but it has never caught on to any significant degree in Canada. We can learn much from our American cousins. A starting point would be reading the American Bar Association’s 140 page manual: “Rest Assured: The Sabbatical Solution for Lawyers” which was first published back in 2006.
In my legal practice representing lawyers and other professionals in negligence actions, I am very aware of how poor mental health impacts client service. I have had files where I have had to step in and appear for a sole practitioner in court to obtain an adjournment because the lawyer had a mental health breakdown the day before. I have had other files where lawyers took no action on a file due to crippling anxiety. I have also seen cases where law firms have completely lost track of a client’s file due to repeated turnover of associate lawyers. I have seen data that suggests that large law firms can have 20-30% turnover a year in their associate ranks. As a former partner in a large firm, I routinely saw how disruptive turnover can be and how easy it is for things to be missed due to constant transitions. Improving the mental health of the legal professions will, in my view, have a significant impact on the quantity of claims insurers and their counsel need to manage.
The New York Bar Association lists encouraging sabbaticals as one of its nine recommendations for developing a law firm well-being roadmap in its “Report and Recommendations of the NYSBA Task Force on Attorney Well-being.” According to an article published earlier this year in Forbes, sabbaticals can have a significant impact. The article states:
[A] sabbatical can be greatly beneficial for mental health. The modern work environment, often characterized by long hours and high stress, can take a toll on one’s mental well-being. A sabbatical allows individuals to decompress, relax, and rejuvenate. This mental break can help in reducing burnout, anxiety, and stress, leading to a healthier, happier lifestyle. Upon return, employees often find themselves more focused, energized, and productive, which is advantageous not just for them but for their employers as well.
The article reminded me of a CPD session that I attended sometime in 2020 about resilience. It was hosted by three former Olympic athletes who are now lawyers. The main takeaway from the session is that we should look at our careers in a similar way that high level athletes train. High level athletes carefully plan out their year, building in breaks following periods of intense training. No one can train at a high level all of the time without injury. As legal professionals, we should not be working at a high and intense level constantly either. It makes sense that doing so may cause our mind and body to breakdown.
It can be challenging in some practice areas to find the time to completely disconnect – especially in high volume practices such as insurance litigation, real estate and the like. Keeping up with the work is often like trying to have a drink of water out of the fire hose. I have gotten better over the years of scheduling weeks off after large hearings and investigations, but reached a point where that was not enough.
By taking a sabbatical, I gave myself permission to rest. Truly rest. How did I do it? I transferred my files to other lawyers at our firm and communicated clearly to clients our plan to continue to provide them with high quality service. I was mostly able to rely on my two associates and law clerk, although other lawyers from small firms were also more than willing to assist.
Not a single client complained. In fact, most sent me good wishes and congratulated me on knowing when to take a break. Encouraging the legal professions to embrace sabbaticals may well assist in improving mental health across the professions – and reduce the number of claims in the process. For once, everyone wins!