Olly Haddock

As a commercial litigation solicitor, how do you manage the inherent stress of high-stakes legal work while maintaining your mental well-being?

As a litigator, much of the anxiety tends to be around procedural steps and deadlines. Small mistakes in high value claims can be costly. I find that having proper team processes in place not only helps to avoid mistakes, but gives you that peace of mind. This might include an agreed approach across the team for deadline planning, ensuring effective supervision channels across all matters etc.

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Many lawyers struggle with the pressure to appear 'always on.' Have you ever felt that tension, and how have you created space for vulnerability without compromising your professional identity?

I think it does come with the territory, to some extent. The trick for me was learning to differentiate between what was actually urgent and what wasn’t. It takes a bit of time and confidence, not just from a legal perspective, but the more time you spend working with different clients, the better your antenna becomes for how to manage those relationships effectively. That doesn’t always involve responding to emails at midnight.

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Through The Careers Edit, you’ve built a space where professionals can grow, connect, and learn. How intentional has mental well-being been in that mission - and how do you nurture that within the community you’re building?

Wellbeing is right at heart of what we do at The Careers Edit. The community was founded around the idea that the career development space wasn’t built for our generation. It didn’t seem to have evolved for years. There was very little recognition, or discussion, around mental health across the City. It took a long time for organisations to recognise that wellbeing played a huge part in performance, productivity and retention of talent. The stereotypical annual yoga class in the boardroom around Mental health Awareness Week is not a wellbeing policy.

So, over the last few years we have tried to fill that gap. We run a number events aimed at opening up the conversation around mental health, educating, getting the community active and helping to provide organic support networks. We have hosted everything from expert panels, to a Barry’s class on a rooftop in the City.

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If you could reimagine how the legal industry approached mental health, what’s one practical change you would introduce tomorrow?

It should be said that a lot of progress does seem to have been made over the last few years. I am very lucky that, at Weightmans, you really do get the sense that staff wellbeing is a real priority and that comes all the way from the top (we have been awarded UK Top Ten Employer status 18 years in a row). Unfortunately, that doesn’t necessarily seem to be the case across the entire industry.

One issue seems to be the race for talent and the salary wars that this creates. Inevitably, some firms end up employing fewer lawyers in order to keep up with salary demands. This just perpetuates the cycle of burnout and churn, reducing the talent pool and fuelling the problem.

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What’s something that has helped your mental health that you wish more people in the profession talked about openly?

Having a great circle of friends within the industry. We generally associate getting out and about around the City with client relationships and new business. But, having a supportive group around you (often that you have known since law school) really does help.

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