Biglaw Firms May Not Be Ready To Offer The Mental Health Accommodations Young Lawyers Want
This is a very big problem for Biglaw. Law firms need to adapt -- and fast.
Ed. note: Welcome to our daily feature, Quote of the Day.
People wanting basic changes to the job description and other accommodations to help them live a more balanced life for their mental health—that’s a really different phenomenon from what firms were seeing five years ago, and it’s only going to increase.
It’s not out of malice or ill will, they simply are not seeing how it’s possible. The job is the job. With the model of large law firms right now, time demands and time pressures are often very significant, and the expectations of constant availability are very real.
— Patrick Krill, a law firm mental health adviser, in comments given to the Legal Intelligencer, on whether Biglaw firms are fully equipped to deal with the mental health accommodations being requested by their youngest attorneys. “I just don’t think most firms are fully aware of the challenge that is staring them in the face,” Krill concluded.
Staci Zaretsky is a senior editor at Above the Law, where she’s worked since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on X/Twitter and Threads or connect with her on LinkedIn.
