As our readers know, our purpose at Lean Adviser, is to share the rudiments of the Lean Law program, and to link them to issues of the day through our weekly briefings. We stand back from the stories and connect them.

In this lesson, we do just that, by connecting two stories through our lean prism. On the one hand, Paul Weiss reported record revenue and profits for 2023. On the other, it was reported that a British coroner had found that a Pinsent Masons partner had suffered an “acute mental health crisis” before her tragic death.

There’s nothing wrong with big law hiring talented people who do good work and generate profits. But, there’s everything wrong with the toll this takes on the mental health and wellbeing of the lawyers involved. Of course we don’t know the full circumstances of this latest tragedy, but we do know that very few of us get through the decades in practice without, at some point, feeling the effects of stress and exhaustion.

This isn’t about those two firms, or any law firms. It’s about connected themes. One is soaring rates and profits, another is the crisis in attorney wellness and mental health. The juxtaposition is hard to miss.

At the extremes, you come out of law school with a ton of student debt, and struggle to get a job, because hiring happens to be in a downward arc. Such is the trend of overcapacity in early 2024 that there are fewer summer associate positions, never mind real jobs. Or maybe you got a job during the talent wars, and now find you don’t have enough work, and you’re part of the next slew of layoffs.

That’s at one extreme. At the other end of the scale, you find that you’re in big demand. This is like getting an invite to the “all-you-can’t-eat” buffet. You’re hungry for work, great we have a bunch of it. You consumed that, good we’ll give you some more. You didn’t finish that yet? No matter, take a double portion for when you do. Only don’t miss those deadlines. Or tell us you can’t take any more.

But why not? Why don’t we just turn the work away? Or at least negotiate the deadline? There can be a variety of reasons, but confidence plays a part in all of them. We are conditioned to feel expendable and vulnerable. We’re all taught to make hay when the sun is shining. Pull an all -nighter, cancel the weekend, just take the next assignment.

These are natural reactions, and we all have them. But it doesn’t have to be that way. One of the tenets of Lean Law is transparent management of expectations. Another is the meticulous planning of resources, including your own time.

At a certain point, it’s in the best interests of the client, the assignment and — most of all yourself — for you to say: “All my projects are carefully planned, monitored and under active management. From this, it’s clear that I don’t have capacity for this new assignment, with this deadline, at this time.”

Yes, that can be difficult, especially early on in your career, but once you do and see that the sun still comes up the next day, your current work gets the attention it deserves, and you’re not pulling all-nighters, you’ll be able to say “no” to another assignment with a clear conscience — and a healthier you.