Tales of poor mental health are forcing change on the legal profession as recruits fight back against competitive culture, with some even abandoning the long-enshrined ambition to ‘make partner’
When Leah Steele was working as a lawyer she had a gruelling schedule – putting in as many as 50 hours in four days – and often felt anxious.
Matters came to a head in 2014 after she suffered a bereavement. She remembers constantly checking and rechecking letters, and waking up in the early hours troubled about an email she thought she had sent to a client.