Law Firms Roll Out COVID-19 Mental Health Measures as A&O Launches Global Lockdown Survey
Law firms have rolled out a number of initiatives to help their workforces combat poor mental health during the coronavirus lockdown as part of the…
By Hannah Roberts / May 18, 2020
Lawyers are struggling to deal with mental health problems caused by the COVID-19 outbreak.
Law firms have rolled out a number of initiatives to help their workforces combat poor mental health during the coronavirus lockdown as part of the U.K.'s Mental Health Awareness Week.
Allen & Overy has created a monthly survey to gather feedback on mental wellness and concerns that its global staff may have during the lockdown.
The survey was kicked off earlier this month by the firm's newly-elected managing partner Gareth Price and is being run by the firm's wellbeing team.
"This is the first time we have measured mental health (we have previously asked questions about overall wellbeing in our annual engagement surveys) and it will give us insights that inform future interventions as well as a baseline from which to measure the impact of those interventions," said the firm's head of wellbeing Toni Graves in a statement.
The firm added that all partners will attend a mental health training course over the course of 2020, which entails a half-day session focusing on the role leaders can play in creating healthier workplaces.
A&O is also one of the latest law firms to have signed up to the Mindful Business Charter — an initiative started in 2018 by Barclays in collaboration with Addleshaw Goddard and Pinsent Masons aimed at driving change in the ways leading banks and law firms work.
The Magic Circle firm signed up to the charter at the beginning of the month, as did fellow law firm Travers Smith.
Elsewhere, CMS, Pinsent Masons and Simmons & Simmons have created wellbeing hubs and toolkits for staff to access during the pandemic.
Simmons said that its hub provided staff with resources for dealing with issues such as loneliness and anxiety, physical exercise, activities for kids and home-schooling.
CMS recently launched an online resilience tool called 'Space from COVID-19', and has also created a support group called 'Home Alone' aimed at those living alone or away from loved ones.
Taylor Wessing, meanwhile, has granted its trainees access to the firm's wider account on mental wellbeing app Headspace.
The initiatives come as lawyers across the industry express the challenges they are facing as the impact of the lockdown.
Mental health charity LawCare has reported that lawyers are most concerned about being forced to return to the office and financial pressures exacerbated by the pandemic.