A partnership of the different Canadian law societies, the Federation of Law Societies of Canada, the Canadian Bar Association and the Université de Sherbrooke is coming together for a first-of-its-kind national study on the well-being of legal professionals.
The study is based on the fact that legal practitioners are amongst the grouping of professionals most at risk of experiencing mental wellness issues such as stress, anxiety, and depression. The partnership aims to better understand why this is, in order to better support legal professionals, providing them with the necessary resources to promote a healthy and sustainable legal practice.
A range of legal practitioners are being contacted in order to complete the study. For example, In Ontario, the following legal professionals are being asked to participate in an anonymous and confidential study questionnaire:
- All lawyers and paralegals, including those who are presently unemployed, on leave and who have retired or stopped working in law in the past year;
- Articling candidates who are working in any capacity, including private practice, public sector, university or college, etc.;
- Experiential learning candidates who completed the Law Practice Program at Ryerson, the Programme de pratique du droit at the University of Ottawa or the Integrated Practice Curriculum program at Lakehead University in 2021.
Read more about the study here, Or watch a video of lead researcher Dr. Nathalie Cadieux introducing the study here