[report] Lawyers' mental health: why they are leaving the robe behind

How are our lawyers really doing?

It is a question we rarely ask. And when we dare to ask it, the answer is rarely honest.

Mental health in firms is still a taboo subject, even though it touches every kind of practice, from the junior who has only just been sworn in to the partner buried under responsibilities. At Neria, it is one of the topics the community asks for most. Proof that the need to talk about it is there, even if the words are still hard to find.

To answer it straight, we brought together four figures of the profession around two central questions: how are our lawyers doing? And what would make them better?

Eva Schick, founder of Neria, spends 90% of her time talking with lawyers. A specialist in employer branding, she helps firms attract the right profiles and helps candidates find the role that genuinely fits them.

Vanessa Bousardo, former deputy head of the Paris bar, campaigned on this subject throughout her run. Working with every kind of lawyer, sole practitioners, juniors and partners alike, she fought so that everyone could enter the profession in the best possible conditions.

François Robin, the lawyers' lawyer, works daily with firms and professionals to defend their rights and shape their careers. Highly active within ACE, Avocats Ensemble, he represents his peers with commitment and proximity.

Sophie Reichman, a lawyer committed to mental health issues, brings a complementary view of what can push a professional to slide, little by little, towards burnout, and of the signals we so often prefer to ignore.