MULS WELLBEING HUB OCTOBER EDITION
Welcome to the MULS Wellbeing Hub! This is an online space where you can find monthly posts on wellbeing related topics. This includes wellbeing in the legal profession, dealing with exam stress and more! This month’s post features a Q&A with Dr Andrew Burke and Zara Bending from Macquarie Law School, where they share their insights and perspectives on mental wellbeing.
Dr Andrew Burke
Dr Andrew Burke is a Lecturer at Macquarie Law School and is the Postgraduate Director of the Juris Doctor. Andrew is a former Director of EDO NSW, a specialist environmental legal centre. Prior to joining Macquarie Law School, Andrew was a solicitor in private practice specialising in criminal defence. Andrew's current research specialisation is the sentencing of environmental crimes and the question of how to shape sentencing to the unique characteristics of this form of crime.
What is “wellness” to you, and how should the legal profession promote wellness?
To be honest, ‘wellness’ is still a strange word to me. I see that it works on two levels. Superficially, of course we all want to be well and for others to be well too. Who wouldn’t want that? But it seems to me that it can also operate as yet another social expectation – not only do you need to be on top of your academic and professional life, you also need to be fit and healthy and happy and kind of perfect. The idea that people who are 18 or 20 or 22 are failing if they are not on top of every aspect of their life is – and I cannot emphasise this enough – complete bullshit. It’s perfectly normal to be a bit messy and you shouldn’t feel bad about that for a second.
How are mental health problems perceived within the legal profession?
What the legal industry should not do is adopt superficial wellness branding exercises. Maybe they have free yoga classes at lunch – so what? And what if (like me) you despise yoga? What is more important is that the legal industry continues to remove the barriers that prevent some people from reaching their potential: barriers based upon gender or sexuality or class or disability or race. Structural inequality is anathema to wellness.
What do you see as the greatest barriers to achieving genuine work-life balance?
Perceptions of mental health in the profession have gone through exactly the same transformation as they have in society broadly. It’s gone from being something that was at best poorly understood and little discussed, and at worst seen as a sign of weakness, to thankfully a more modern understanding that mental health – like physical health – is something that should be actively safeguarded and then, if necessary, treated by a professional without stigma. I can say that in my area of criminal law, the awful details of cases can affect lawyers, and it’s no secret that many criminal lawyers drink too much as a result. I’m not sure what the solution is but it certainly begins with acknowledging the problem.
Do you think work-life balance exists?
What is work-life balance? It depends on your work and it depends on your life. For some people work is life and they are very happy that way. For others, it’s their hobbies or friends or family who make them happy and work is just a way to pay the bills. The key to balance – and the greatest barrier – is that you must decide what you want and then work to achieve it. It won’t happen by accident. What is most important to you? If it’s money then fine, make that choice for the highest income job you can get and accept the consequences that might come with that decision. If it’s work that fascinates you then great, and you might be prepared to be paid a bit less to do that work. If it’s family then again that’s great; you might need to make different choices though, at least for part of your career. I make that point about family in a totally gender-neutral way – equality should mean both parents sharing the burdens and joys of family. For me personally, academia provides work-life balance where I do interesting work that I enjoy and I can also, for example, coach my son’s cricket team (which I could not have done whilst practising). That makes me happy.
What advice can you give law students experiencing academic distress?
For law students suffering academic distress, the first thing I would say is that a certain amount of stress is very normal. Studying law is hard and assessments are inherently stressful. I also think it’s true that in a long course it’s common to have one bad semester – for whatever reason – and it’s important not to over-react to that but rather push through. Friendships at law school are very important to get you through the tough times which is one reason why I always encourage students to participate in campus life.
Of course for some students the stress might go beyond the normal range. If the problem is a particular skills deficiency – say writing well – then seek help with that from the University’s free services or your unit convenor. There’s no shame in asking for help to improve (in fact, you’re foolish not to). When it comes to the more severe forms of distress, particularly mental illness, I’m not qualified to assist but I do know that you should seek help from those who are qualified: reach out to Campus Wellbeing and/or to a medical professional.
Zara Bending
Zara Bending is an academic at the Macquarie Law School who balances teaching, research projects, and international wildlife crime fighting work with the Jane Goodall Institute. She was a finalist in the 2022 FDI Future Director Awards and is the recipient of a 2021 Australian Awards for University Teaching national citation for Outstanding Contributions to Student Learning.
What is “wellness” to you, and how should the legal profession promote wellness?
Wellness is more than an Instagram aesthetic or an industry selling diet culture and fad fitness equipment. It’s a personal state of holistic health encompassing but not limited to physical, mental, social, and financial aspects.
As with all responses to complex issues, I believe the profession should implement and resource evidence-based policies and procedures to promote better cultures around workplace wellness. Looking to the ‘10 Mental Wellbeing Principles for the Legal Profession’ on page 10 of the International Bar Association’s 2021 study is a good place to start.
How are mental health problems perceived within the legal profession?
There is an extensive body of academic literature on the impact of mental health stressors in both legal education and the legal profession, but what I find encouraging is that professional bodies are engaging with that research and promoting better guidelines. For example, there’s ‘Being Well In The Law: A Guide for Lawyers’ from the Law Society of NSW, NSW Young Lawyers and ANU, and the extremely comprehensive ‘Mental Wellbeing in the Legal Profession: A Global Study’ courtesy of the International Bar Association. The Law Society of NSW even maintains an online page on Mental Health and Wellbeing. Implementation varies and relies on workplace practices, cultures within teams, and individual personnel factors, but it’s certainly a step in the right direction in response to a recognised widespread problem.
What do you see as the greatest barriers to achieving genuine work-life balance? Do you think work-life balance exists?
I think the greatest barrier to achieving work-life balance is what we envision it to mean. Straight up, I think healthy work-life balance exists, just not necessarily in the way some perceive it. IMHO there’s never going to be a perfectly consistent 50-50 balance between the two because sometimes work requires more. Maybe you’ve gotten a new opportunity and want to hit the ground running. Maybe it’s end-of-year reporting time or you're prepping for a big trial. Perhaps changes in your team necessitates everyone having to rally for a time. On the other hand, sometimes you need to invest more in your personal life: people, hobbies, volunteering, travel, etc. My takeaway is that you can 'have it all,' but don’t pressure yourself into thinking that means ‘having it all at the same time’.
What advice can you give lawyers experiencing workplace distress?
Two strands of advice here: one proactive, one reactive. Firstly, building a workplace wellbeing toolkit is just as important as investing in other areas of professional development, so consider taking related courses and seminars as part of your 10+ units of annual continuing professional development. For example, LAWCPD has some great online courses on mental health and wellbeing, including features from Dr Michelle Sharpe, Dr Marny Lishman, The Hon Michael Kirby AC CMG, and even ‘Happy Lawyer, Happy Life’ trailblazer Clarissa Rayward. Secondly, if you’ve tipped over into a place where you’re feeling distressed: 1) tell someone- this could be a support person or a helpline, 2) engage your workplace, whether it’s informing your immediate supervisor, HR, or Partner as relevant, 3) take up offers for EAP (if available) and other counselling support, 4) lean into your informal support networks, and 5) prioritise your health in your decision-making. You can’t work if you don't have the capacity to work, and it’s okay to not be okay.
What advice can you give law students experiencing academic distress?
I understand that you can be in a classroom surrounded by people and still feel isolated and alone. I also know what it’s like to think you’ve hit rock bottom, only for life to start fracking. Part of law school is developing your professional identity, and part of professionalism is self-management. Part of effective self-management is knowing how to reach out early and communicate your needs so that others can intervene and support. Just like your substantive legal work, it’s an important thing to practise before graduation.
I also know a lot of students who deal with imposter syndrome and become so hypercritical of their work that there's a disconnect somewhere between their ability, performance, and perception of capability. I've seen students progress from 'P's to 'HD's in their degrees, even with an 'F' or two in the mix, because they re-orient their relationship with failure. Every time you fail at something consider it your First Attempt In Learning and grow from it. That's the difference between 'someone who failed' versus 'a failure'.
Lastly, as a researcher, I’ve always used knowledge as armour and I’d apply the same principle here: familiarise yourself with University Support Services and Policies, equip yourself by reading the research on mental health and legal education/the legal profession, download wellbeing apps, and lean into your formal and informal support networks.
