With the aim of raising awareness in the legal sector of the importance of addressing people’s comprehensive well-being and, above all, offering concrete prevention solutions, the Madrid Bar Association has distributed a complete mental health kit to law firms and professionals. .
Among its contents, it includes a ‘Digital disconnection plan‘ for legal professionals and a good practice guide aimed at law firm and human resources managers.
In addition, to help those who feel or detect in their colleagues symptoms of extreme fatigue and constant exhaustion, alterations in work performance, irritability and behavioral changes, isolation, demotivation, insomnia, difficulty managing stress or physical discomfort without apparent cause, the ICAM has prepared a ‘Psychological first aid manual‘ which includes guidelines to act early and preventively at the first signs indicative of a mental health problem.
All of this is included in the ‘ICAM Mental Health Kit‘, a briefcase that emulates first aid kits and contains these educational documents that will also be available in their online versions on the ICAM Cortina Foundation website.
“He comprehensive well-being of legal professionals It is an absolute priority. With initiatives like this campaign we are promoting a culture of prevention and support that benefits both lawyers and firms. As a College we cannot remain impassive when six out of ten lawyers tell us that they suffer from anxiety and almost half have experienced fatigue, negative and depressing thoughts and emotional disturbances,” says the dean of ICAM and president of its Foundation, Eugenio Ribón.
Action plan against hyperconnectivity
One of the innovative materials in this ‘Kit’ is the ‘Digital Disconnection Plan’ that seeks counteract the effects of hyperconnectivity that increasingly affects legal professionals. The Plan includes clear guidelines for achieving work-life balance, starting with setting clear boundaries on work hours. Because, according to the document, “far from improving productivity, the blurring of the boundaries between work and personal life causes cognitive overload that prevents lawyers from making complex decisions clearly.”
Therefore, among the most notable recommendations is to try to Limit email use outside of work hourspromoting regular breaks and restricting remote access to work platforms outside established hours.
Likewise, the plan suggests measures to turn technology into an ally at the service of disconnection, such as Automate responses to emails outside of business hoursthe use of tools that allow you to deactivate notifications on mobile devices or the use of time management systems and access limiters.
The ICAM document also includes guidelines for action in emergency situations that require the intervention of lawyers outside of working hours. For these cases, a system of rotating guards is proposed, where only one professional is available to attend to possible emergencies, thus avoiding overloading the entire team.
Furthermore, it is suggested to establish a protocol to determine when it is necessary to interrupt a lawyer’s rest, ensuring that these interventions are exceptional.
Isabel Winkels, vice dean of ICAMhighlights: “Our goal is to raise awareness and offer effective tools that allow lawyers to balance their work and personal lives, reducing the effects of the hyperconnectivity in which we all live.”
The role of offices and HR managers
The ICAM mental health kit also includes a good practices guide Aimed at heads of offices and human resources departmentsbased on the premise that a healthy work environment is crucial not only for the well-being of employees, but also for the success and productivity of organizations.
For this purpose, the importance of continuous training on topics related to mental health, such as the early identification of emotional problems and stress management, is referred to. In addition, the implementation of flexible work policies is suggested, which allow employees to manage their professional and personal responsibilities in a more balanced way.
It also promotes creation of open and accessible communication channelsso that employees can express their concerns confidentially and securely.
The guide places special emphasis on the responsibility of office leaders and human resources managers, who must pay attention to the behavioral changes of their employees and foster an environment of support and understanding. Among other measures, it recommends implementing periodic surveys to evaluate the work environment and mental health of the teams, and designing assistance and well-being programs that include psychological services for workers.
In addition to describing the main warning signs when detecting mental health problems among employeessuch as withdrawal, irritability, lack of concentration, absenteeism or apathy, the guide outlines a preventive strategy in which, among other guidelines, those responsible for law firms with more than three employees are encouraged to participate in the program Wellbeing Offices promoted by the ICAM Cortina Foundation, about to launch its second edition, and in whose first promotion participated managers from firms of the stature of Uría Menéndez, Pérez-Llorca, Clifford Chance, Ashurst, ECIJA or Ceca Magán.
“It is essential that professionals, offices and human resources managers take proactive measures to take care of the mental health of their teams. With these guides, we take another step towards healthier and more productive work environments,” he concludes. Ana Buitrago, ICAM deputy and vice president of the ICAM Cortina Foundation.
ICAM and the well-being of the legal profession
Fulfilling one of the star commitments of its Government program, the Governing Board launched an ambitious well-being program in May 2023 through the School Foundation (‘ICAM Comprehensive Wellbeing’) that includes workshops, training sessions, materials informative and a free telephone line for psychological assistance.
Furthermore, to put figures to a problem that until now has tended to be minimized or hidden, last July it presented the first study carried out in Spain on this reality.
