Leaders in the Well-Being in Law Movement

But as fee options outside hourly billing become more accepted by firms and clients alike, alternative fee arrangements can introduce a new axis upon which rising lawyers are evaluated: how efficiently they are working.

“AFAs can create a third pressure that was never there,” said Jarrett Green, a wellness consultant and former Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom attorney. “If you’re not efficient, that can then raise flags, because the firm is taking losses on that.”

If the firm wins on fixed-fee matters when it can deliver clients the desired outcome for lower than the threshold hour amount, associates perhaps deserve a win too, maybe in the form of a downward adjustment on hours targets. “There should be some internal restructuring, just as a matter of logic and economics,” Green said.

By Dan Packel

Do Alternative Fee Arrangements Increase Burden on Associates?

Jarrett Green, another Big Law ex-pat who now advises law firms and legal departments on mental health and well-being strategies, likens paying overworked associates special bonuses to throwing a cup of cold water on a marathon runner. It feels good in the moment, but it doesn’t address the root cause of the problem. “There are studies showing people feel they are being paid off for their pain. So sometimes it can actually backfire,” he said. Good lawyers who just can’t grind any harder could benefit from perks other than (or in addition to) money. Green has a long list of ways firms can make associates feel better about their workplace.
[This Bloomberg Law article next provides this list of recommendations]

By Roy Strom

Big Law’s Bonus Spree Fails to Curtail Associate Burnout

“I think the belief is that that, ‘if I’m extraordinarily busy to the point of feeling chaotic and unhealthy, then I won’t be seen as lazy, unproductive and unsuccessful. That’s a belief our industry, especially Big Law, indoctrinates,” said Jarrett Green, a wellness consultant and former Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom attorney, who refers to this dynamic as “chaotic busyness."

By Dylan Jackson

US Lawyers Agree: Please Stop Bragging about How Busy You Are

"What has happened is a once-in-a-century transformation of our work environment," [Jarrett] Green continued. "It's having huge effects on culture, retention, hours, profitability – yet, there's actually been very little change in educating partners on how the new cultural dynamics require them to change some of their old leadership patterns."

To address the issue, Green encourages law firms to have mandatory training for partners to help them improve their self-awareness and understand the difficulties and changes faced by their attorneys and staff. "They can't be blamed for not knowing how to create a less hostile environment in light of these changes, but if they're unwilling to learn or listen, they can be blamed," Green added.

By Xiumei Dong

Why Better Law Firm Culture Must Come from the Top

Rebecca Simon [Green], a law professor and a co-founder of the Mindfulness, Stress Management and Peak Performance Program at the University of Southern California Gould School of Law had a striking name for the pattern taking place in the legal profession: “hazing.”

“Law schools and Big Law haze law students and new legal professionals into dangerous mindsets,” Simon [Green] said, and “destructive behaviors.” 

Simon [Green]’s co-founder, Jarrett Green adds, “This kind of power-through culture is killing the legal industry. It’s literally killing lawyers as well. It comes from the false, ingrained belief that it means you are a dedicated, hardcore lawyer.

By Lizzy McLellan

Is the Legal Industry Ready for a Culture Shift on Mental Health?

Former commercial litigator and current executive coach and wellness expert Jarrett Green said he found it interesting that, according to the survey results, individuals felt their own well-being was improving but felt the well-being in their firms was not. “This could suggest that people have built a sense of internal resiliency over the course of the pandemic that is making them feel a bit healthier, while also believing that their improved resiliency has resulted despite—not because of—their firm’s culture. This combination can create a sense of resentment toward one’s firm, which can help explain the Great Resignation,” Green said in an email. 

Green, the wellness consultant, noted that, while most larger firms have EAPs in place, almost half of law firm employees aren’t aware of it, according to the survey results. “This is an indicator that firms are not effectively communicating the nature of their EAPs; employees are badly misinformed on this critical issue. Firms are spending millions and millions of dollars per year on their EAPs and nearly half of their employees don’t think the firm even has such an EAP!”

By Patrick Smith

Pandemic Anxiety Wanes, but Legal Industry’s Mental Health Struggles Persist 

"You can give people thousands of vacation hours a year. But if you don’t want to decrease billable hours [or create a billable hour credit], then nobody will take it," said wellness consultant Jarrett Green.

In the mental health space, where Green works, he sees this dynamic play out all the time. After working 12 to 14 hours in a day getting in eight hours of billable time, will people really choose to go to an optional event on mental health, even if it’s something they care about? These sort of situations create a Catch-22, Green says, where attorneys must choose work over their well-being. 

By Dylan Jackson

Law Firms Seek to Address the Root Cause of Burnout: Time

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