Being a lawyer has long been recognised as a high-pressure profession. But for many lawyers in Aotearoa New Zealand, the challenges stretch beyond heavy workloads and long hours.
Authors
- Georgina Patel
Research Associate, Faculty of Law and Faculty of Health and Environmental Sciences, Auckland University of Technology
- Katey Thom
Associate Professor in Law, Auckland University of Technology
- Khylee Quince
Dean of Law, Auckland University of Technology
Our recently published Law in Distress report found high levels of work-related distress and indirect trauma among lawyers, linked to both the nature of their work and wider systemic challenges.
And yet, alongside experiencing significant work-related distress, the majority of lawyers remain deeply committed to their profession: 77.5% of survey participants intend to continue practising law.
That widespread sense of commitment is important when considering how to address work-related distress.
Any solutions will need to recognise the meaning lawyers derive from their work, alongside their strong professional identity and sense of belonging in the legal community.
Moral distress and the myth of coping
Our research is the first large-scale study of work-related distress and indirect trauma among Aotearoa New Zealand lawyers. We surveyed 379 lawyers and interviewed a further 49 across different areas of practice.
Many lawyers reported experiencing distress from repeated exposure to clients' trauma. But they also talked about systemic pressures, heavy workloads and workplace cultures that normalise overwork and emotional suppression.
They described walking a "precarious tightrope", where empathetic engagement with traumatic cases and clients becomes unsustainable. They might try to detach to cope, but in doing so, may jeopardise their ability to hear and accurately represent their clients' experiences.
Being a "good lawyer" within the culture of the profession, meant not being visibly affected by the work. This perpetuates the stigma associated with normal responses to experiencing work-related distress and seeking support.
Our study also found many lawyers experienced moral distress , a concept quantitatively measured with lawyers for the first time in this study. This emerged as a central explanatory theme in the research.
Moral distress can occur when someone knows the ethically right course of action, but something or someone prevents them from pursuing it. Whether stemming from internal or external factors, moral distress threatens their core values.
Many lawyers reported feeling unable to help clients because of systemic barriers beyond their control, such as court delays and limited access to justice, leaving many feeling trapped in a broken system.
One, for instance, described the hardest part of the job as "bearing witness to endless human pain" while feeling powerless to help. They said heavy caseloads compounded those feelings, as they saw the same patterns of suffering repeated time and again.
Lawyers also experienced moral distress when required to act against their professional judgement or felt they were simply processing people through the system rather than advancing justice.
At the same time, our research revealed an important counterpoint. Although many lawyers experienced work-related distress, they also drew deep meaning and satisfaction from their work.
Many participants described helping clients through difficult situations or securing a just outcome as among the most rewarding aspects of their careers. Knowing their work could make a meaningful difference gave them a strong sense of purpose and fulfilment.
But that sense of purpose should not be used to justify the unsustainable working conditions, cultural issues, and systemic dysfunction we identified.
Finding a collective solution
Addressing work-related distress will require action at every level, from legal education and workplace culture to leadership and professional support.
Our report highlights several examples of how that is already beginning to happen.
Auckland University of Technology Law School, for instance, now offers an elective course on trauma-informed law .
It helps students understand the diverse impacts of trauma and develop practical skills for effective client interactions that avoid re-retraumatisation and support lawyer wellbeing. Students also explore how collective action can address systemic injustice and reduce moral distress in legal work.
We found peer support and engagement from senior leaders to be an important protective factor.
As one lawyer explained, judges attending law gatherings routinely reminded lawyers to "look out for each other", recognising that it was "a difficult job" and encouraging lawyers to support anyone who was struggling.
It was similarly important to normalise these experiences. One person recounted how attending on a local Law Society presentation on vicarious trauma proved life-changing:
…I walked out realising that all these terrible things I had experienced had a name and you could study them; they were normal, and frankly, to be expected given what I had to deal with…
Our study also identified practical coping strategies lawyers already use. These include clear boundaries, focusing on what is within their control, accepting that being affected by a case is not a professional failing, and reframing distressing material as something they have been trusted to carry.
But individual strategies can only go so far.
Lasting change will depend on the legal profession recognising work-related distress and indirect trauma as a shared responsibility rather than a personal weakness, and acting collectively to address the conditions that give rise to it.
Lawyers can find support through the New Zealand Law Society's free counselling service and wellbeing helplines .
Georgina Patel received funding for the Law in Distress research from the New Zealand Law Foundation.
Katey Thom and Khylee Quince do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
