Survey Finds Majority of In-House Lawyers Overworked and Highly Stressed

New research urges organization's legal leaders to prioritize employee wellbeing post-pandemic

TORONTO, July 14, 2021 /CNW/ - The Canadian Corporate Counsel Association (CCCA), the leader and voice for Canadian in-house counsel, and Mondaq, the global standard for AI-enabled content marketing for professional services firms, conducted an expansive survey of Canadian in-house counsel lawyers between March and May 2021. Designed in partnership with an advisory board composed of eminent in-house counsel from across Canada, the survey aims to provide up-to-date insights into current hot button issues and future outlooks for the Canadian in-house counsel profession.

Based on over 460 survey responses, it is evident that COVID-19 continues to present many challenges to Canadian in-house counsel, leading to significant employee wellbeing challenges:

COVID-19 continues to present many challenges to Canadian in-house counsel, leading to significant wellbeing challenges.

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• The biggest concerns revolved around staff-related matters stemming from the pandemic: remote working, the deterioration of mental health, health & safety issues, employee stress levels and staff burnout.
• 71% of in-house counsel have seen an increase in their work-related stress and anxiety levels in the last year.
• Increased levels of in-house accountability (with 60% of in-house counsel taking on additional responsibilities including compliance, ethics, investigations and ESG) as well as the heightened demand for in-house legal services (including 55% of participants expecting an increase in demand for data privacy; 46% increase in demand for risk & compliance; 39% increase in demand for supporting operational delivery) are contributors to the increased levels of work-related stress and anxiety.

The survey results provide a clear a call to action for legal department leaders to put in place programs which support employee wellbeing and retention.

ABOUT THE CCCA 
The CCCA is the leader and voice for Canadian in-house counsel. Founded in 1988 as a forum of the Canadian Bar Association, we represent over 5,000 in-house counsel from every province and territory, and sector and industry, making us the most inclusive and representative professional association for in-house counsel in Canada. For more information, visit www.ccca-accje.org.

ABOUT MONDAQ 
Mondaq is the global standard in AI-enabled content marketing and analytics solutions for professional services firms and helps its over 22 million readers worldwide to find answers to legal, tax and compliance questions. Mondaq has over 2 million readers in Canada, including the majority of Canadian in-house counsel and executives from thousands of Canadian organizations. For more information, visit www.mondaq.com.

SOURCE Canadian Corporate Counsel Association

For more information or to schedule an interview, please contact: Lynne Yryku, Canadian Corporate Counsel Association, [email protected]