Absorbing Pressure Quietly? Women in law

by Helen Shaw, Psychotherapist, TCC

When I finished at Law School in the early 1990s, we had an end of term lecture from a visiting speaker, a senior female partner at a regional law firm. The aim was to demonstrate how women could  progress to the highest levels in law firms. 

In the Q and A section, a student asked the speaker if it was possible to reach senior partnership status while working part-time. She replied with very little hesitation that no, it was not, as the demands of the job required full-time commitment and sacrifices had to be made to achieve this.

It’s a moment that’s imprinted in my memory. Not for the statement itself, but for the fact that in a lecture theatre packed with both men and women, no-one challenged this reply further. There was complete silence. That silence was not borne of shock, so much as acceptance and resignation, coupled with perhaps a desire not to “rock the boat”. I’ve always felt a sense of disappointment in myself- personally, for not speaking up effectively, and in the legal profession as a whole, for failing to challenge the status quo.  In the 30+ years in which I was in the legal profession, there were certainly some changes, but the essential framework remained the same.

I always felt that the legal profession was one of those institutions wedded to the idea that tradition is A Good Thing, for its own sake, as a symbol of permanence and solidity. Risk-averse, we have a tendency to trundle on because it is “the way things are”.

So the June 2026 report Pressure Points: Mapping Women's Wellbeing in Law, came not as a shock, but a timely reminder that things really do need to change.

60% of entrants into the legal profession are female. Lawyers aren’t fools, and as a whole, they are not known for their passivity. Collectively, our skills include scrutinising and vigorously challenging concepts and people. Although the proportion of senior leaders in law firms does not by any means reflect the number of entrants to the profession, many of the decision-makers, and the thought leaders, are women.

It’s hard to understand how in today’s society we could have reached the shameful situation where 67% of female legal professionals have considered moving jobs or taking a career break due to health and wellbeing issues. 

Even more telling for me, in understanding how this situation is sustained, was that 43% felt they could not openly discuss their health or wellbeing problems at work without facing negative consequences. 

Perhaps one of the roots of this reluctance is, as the report poignantly puts it, the “cultural expectation that women will absorb pressure quietly”. My own experience is that this expectation can be compounded by the competitive environment lawyers work in, which drives them to carry on in the face of adversity, and “just get on with it” until their nervous system collapses.

The pressures are cumulative, deriving from the work itself and the many aspects of home life. Caring for children, ageing parents, the multiple health challenges that women face such as fertility issues, pregnancy and pregnancy loss, childbirth, peri- and menopause. These all mount up to a point where the stresses can become unbearable.

Wellbeing is a word used frequently in professional environments. The report points out that wellbeing should be treated as a structural issue, not a benefits question. Without structural change, wellbeing measures are at best, a sticking plaster. 

It is only when we acknowledge the value women bring to the profession through their skills, competence and leadership, that we will fully be able to accept structural change as necessary for the success of the organisation, rather than just a favour or a legal obligation. 

Policies are important because they translate an organisation's values into consistent practice, shifting responsibility from the individual to the organisation. There are some  great, thoughtful models adopted by law firms, which cover multiple issues from paid fertility-treatment leave, pregnancy-loss leave, neonatal leave, backup childcare, to peri-/ menopause.

However, policy and culture don’t always align. For a policy to be effective, you need to feel safe to use it. A beautifully drafted policy on menopause means little if the senior manager chooses not to take advantage of it herself. The organisation must practice what it preaches, for change to be meaningful. 

Flexible working hours, to accommodate childcare, health issues and other messy realities of home life, do not have to compromise the success of the firm. Surely, we can think creatively and build teams working flexibly and collaboratively on cases.

Good management demands an open-door policy, not just for the manager to be physically available, but also where an atmosphere of psychological safety is cultivated, in which colleagues feel able to disclose professional and personal challenges.

Building a system and a profession which is more reflective, incorporating the use of reflective supervision/practice (which we at TCC specialise in) facilitates such innovation. 

As former lawyers ourselves, we’ve ‘walked in your shoes’. And having a confidential safe space to think about the work, and your role in it, whether individually or in teams, is no longer a ‘nice to have’ but a ‘must have’ in helping the mist to clear, bringing clarity and creating a more inclusive profession. 

I would love to see the day when that lecture at Law School seems like a distant memory of a redundant, outdated system. I know there have been some great developments in the legal profession, where women and men are working innovatively to change the working environment for the better. I’d love to play a part in facilitating even more positive change.

Please share your thoughts, and examples of good, innovative practice. And do contact us at TCC if you’d like to explore the possibilities of reflective practice/ supervision.