Five easy, low-cost steps for workplace wellness

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It’s late on a Tuesday night, and a lawyer is reviewing a file for the third time. It’s not because the work demands it, but because the pressure of everything else has made it impossible to trust that the initial reads were good enough. Whether the practice is litigation, corporate, family, government, in-house, sole, or in a clinic or agency, the moment is the same.

A comprehensive national study of more than 7,000 legal professionals across Canada put numbers to what many in the profession already sensed. More than half of the respondents reported psychological distress and burnout. Among articling students, the figure reached 72 per cent.

The deeper work the profession needs is structural and cultural, and it is underway. In the meantime, legal workplaces can put these five practical, low-cost measures in place. They’re drawn from what is known to protect lawyers’ wellness: supervisor support, psychological detachment, boundary-setting, and access to resources.

That starting point matters most for those in the early years of practice, as well as women, racialized and Indigenous lawyers, lawyers with disabilities, and those in northern and remote communities.

Create a one-page support card

Even where firms promote mental health resources, lawyers do not always know what is available or where to begin. A one-page support card makes the next step obvious. It’s not a policy document or a brochure, but a single page a lawyer can pull up on a phone late at night and know exactly who to call.

It should include: 9-8-8, Canada’s Suicide Crisis Helpline, which is available 24/7 in English and French; the relevant provincial or territorial lawyer assistance program; a designated mental health first aid officer; and any benefits-based counselling. Always include at least one external resource for those who may hesitate to access help internally, for lawyers from equity-seeking communities, and for anyone who prefers a degree of distance.

Circulate it across the workplace, include it in onboarding, and recirculate biannually. Keep it digitally accessible and visible on the intranet, in the kitchen, or on the back of a washroom door. Assign someone to keep it current, as a disconnected number undermines the effort.

Appoint a mental health first aid officer

Lawyers are far more likely to reach out when the first step is easy, private, and clear. A mental health first aid officer makes that step accessible as a non-managerial, trustworthy, empathetic point of contact.

The role needs careful definition. This person shouldn’t be a therapist or involved with human resources, discipline or performance. They need to be a confidential listener and a guide to external supports, such as legal assistance programs. Specify in writing that there are clear confidentiality limits, including safety-related disclosures, but no record-keeping. Also, emphasize that engagement is voluntary.

Formalize the designation through a partnership resolution, by-law, or workplace policy, then invest in training. Mental health first aid certification, endorsed by the Mental Health Commission of Canada, is a two-day bilingual course offered virtually or in person.

Larger workplaces should designate multiple officers so lawyers have a choice, including someone whose background reflects team diversity. Smaller firms, sole practitioners, in-house teams, and lawyers in government or clinic settings can adopt the role with clear boundaries, or rely on a trusted colleague or bar association contact.

The officer does not need to have all the answers. They need to be available, trained, trusted, and able to say with confidence, “Let’s get you some help.”

Conduct monthly 15-minute pressure check-ins

Pressure rarely arrives all at once. It builds gradually across files, deadlines and competing priorities. A short, structured check-in ensures it surfaces early, and while adjustments remain possible. Informal instincts help whoever is in the room, while a structured practice helps everyone, including those less likely to speak up.

The format is simple. Ask three questions: What is creating the most pressure? What is most likely to fall behind? What one small adjustment would help? Then make one concrete change. That could be reassigning a task, adjusting a timeline, clarifying priorities, or deferring a non-urgent item. Whoever conducts the check-in must have standing to follow through. Fifteen minutes, once a month, same time.

In smaller settings like a sole practice, in-house team, or rural clinic, this may be a conversation with a peer outside the workplace. What matters is that it happens.

The check-in reframes the conversation. Instead of asking how someone is feeling — a question many lawyers deflect — it asks what is creating pressure in the work. Of course, it only works if the adjustment actually happens.

Protect a daily focus window

A complex motion cannot be drafted in seven-minute intervals between emails. Drafting, analysis, and strategy all suffer when attention is fragmented. As does the quality that clients rely on.

The national study identified psychological detachment as one of the strongest protective factors for lawyers’ wellness. This is echoed in U.S. workplace mental health guidance. A protected focus window builds this critical detachment into the workday.

It need not be a rigid rule, but a practical default that creates one window a day — even 60 minutes — with exceptions for urgency, court deadlines, and time-sensitive matters. Keep routine meetings outside it. Have leadership model it, because if those at the top do not protect their own windows, no one else will.

Name the window. Protect it. Let people use it. The purpose is focused work, not unavailability. After all, any lawyer who has had even one uninterrupted stretch knows how much it changes the way the rest of the day feels.

Make short-term flexibility a policy, not a favour

Health needs, caregiving, and workload spikes arise in firms, in-house teams, government offices, and clinics. Handled clearly and consistently, they cause little disruption.

A defined short-term flexibility protocol creates that clarity. It covers short-term needs related to health, caregiving, and temporary overload, requires a coverage plan, and respects client service. A one-page form can cover the need, duration and coverage.

Formalize it. The point is to shift flexibility from something that depends on your supervisor’s disposition to something the workplace consistently offers. One supervisor may be generous; another may view the same request with suspicion. A defined framework removes the variability.

This also matters for retention. The national study linked work-life conflict to lower commitment and a higher intention to leave, a finding echoed in Canada’s National Standard for Psychological Health and Safety in the Workplace. The protocol works only if using it is expected and not treated as a favour, viewed through a lens of weakness.  

What these steps can do….and cannot

Together, these five steps make support easier to reach, pressure easier to surface, focus easier to protect, and flexibility easier to request.

They will not solve the profession’s deeper challenges, including billing structures, workload expectations, and the cultural pressures documented in the national study. But they can help while that harder work is underway, in ways lawyers will recognize on any workday.

They are small steps, but they will have a lasting impact—supervisor support, access to resources, and boundaries and predictability matter. No workplace will know how much of a difference they make until they give it a try.

For the lawyer at their desk at 10 p.m. on a Tuesday, the difference might be knowing there is someone to call. Or that tomorrow holds 90 minutes of protected time. Or that asking for a short adjustment is expected, not merely tolerated.

These steps are worth trying. They are worth taking.

Views expressed are not necessarily those of the Canadian Bar Association.