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Bloomberg Law Analysis
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Oct. 2, 2023, 11:00 AM GMT+2


ANALYSIS: FEMALE LAWYERS REPORT MORE STRESS, BURNOUT THAN MALES

By Jessica R. Blaemire

Jessica R. Blaemire
Senior Legal Analyst

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According to recent Bloomberg Law survey data, female lawyers are working longer
hours and dealing with more burnout than their male counterparts.

Bloomberg Law conducted its biannual Attorney Workload & Hours Survey in August,
which focused on lawyers’ experiences in the first half of 2023. Overall,
average hours worked and billed are down slightly from prior years, but mental
and physical health issues still abound among attorneys—and the picture is
grimmer for female respondents. While this is disappointing, it isn’t surprising
to me, given recent headlines about women in the legal profession.


WORKING LESS, BUT MORE THAN ‘9 TO 5'

The survey results indicate that lawyers are putting in more than the
“traditional” 40-hour work week, but hours worked and billed have declined over
the past two years.




Since Bloomberg Law began collecting this data in 2021, the average reported
hours worked have decreased by five hours per week—from 53 average weekly hours
in the first half of 2021 to 48 in the first half of 2023. Reported billable
hours have likewise decreased by five hours—from 42 average billed hours to 37.

There are several possible explanations as to why the reported hours are
declining:


 * the earlier surveys were done in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic and some
   attorneys likely worked more during that time;
 * attorneys are now working less because there’s less work to be had amid legal
   layoffs and threats of a national recession; or
 * legal organizations are using new AI tools to increase efficiency and reduce
   attorney hours.

The downward trend is true of both male and female attorneys, though for the
past two years, female attorneys have consistently reported working and billing
at least one hour more per week than male attorney respondents. This may be
because females are tasked with the office “housework” at firms, which leads to
both more billable and non-billable administrative hours. It may also be because
male attorneys might be taking more time for themselves.


FEMALE ATTORNEYS ARE FEELING THE BURN(OUT)

The average amount of time attorneys said they felt burned out in their jobs
(48%) stayed fairly steady from last year, and, just like last year, female
respondents said they felt burnout at higher rates (56%) than male attorneys
(41%). The survey results showed that those respondents who have children under
the age of 18 in the home experienced more burnout, and female respondents
suffered this to a greater degree than males.




The survey also asked respondents what issues they faced in the past six months
because of work, and provided examples ranging from sleep disruption and
physical health issues to anxiety and depression. A higher percentage of female
respondents than males reported experiencing every problem, with the exception
of “thoughts of self-harm,” which had equal percentages for both genders.




Additionally, only 10% of female respondents said that they experienced “none of
these” problems due to work-related issues, while 21% of male respondents
answered the same.


THE GENDER GAP IN SELF-CARE

The average weekly time spent on self-care continues to rise from 2021, and is
now at 7.2 hours. However, female attorneys have consistently reported spending
less time on self-care than their male counterparts.



In fact, the gap between reported male and female attorney self-care hours has
widened since Bloomberg Law’s last analysis on the topic.

Two years ago, female attorneys reported spending 5.1 hours per week on
self-care—1.1 hours less than male attorneys. Now, female attorneys shared that
they spent 5.6 hours per week on self-care—over three hours less than the
average 8.9 hours per week reported by male attorneys.

When parenting minor children is added into the equation, the self-care hours
spent by female respondents drops down to 3.9 hours per week. Working mom
respondents, in other words, are spending barely a half hour a day on themselves
and are experiencing more burnout.

Perhaps practicing more self-care hours would mitigate the higher burnout rates
experienced by female respondents—it’s unclear whether taking less time for
self-care causes burnout, or vice versa, or neither.

Additionally, telling anyone, especially a working mom, to practice more
self-care is a bit like telling someone in the middle of a panic attack to ‘calm
down.’ One word that I focus on in this advice though is ‘practice.’ As a
working mom, I try to remember that I can’t control external factors, but that I
can control what I practice: setting boundaries, taking breaks, and being
present at home when I sign off at the end of the business day. Well-being is
not a goal, it’s a process.

Bloomberg Law subscribers can find related content on our  Surveys, Reports &
Data Analysis page, our Legal Operations page, our In Focus: Lawyer Development
page, and our In Focus: Lawyer Well-Being page.

If you’re reading this article on the Bloomberg Terminal, please run BLAW OUT
<GO> to access the hyperlinked content or click here to view the web version of
this article.

Continue Reading

To contact the reporter on this story: Jessica R. Blaemire in Washington at
jblaemire@bloombergindustry.com

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Melissa Heelan at
mstanzione@bloomberglaw.com


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RELATED STORIES

ANALYSIS: Lawyer Self-Care Is Getting Its Moment in the Sun (1)
Oct. 12, 2022, 11:00 AM GMT+2
ANALYSIS: Attorney Burnout Abating, But Not Extinguished
Sept. 19, 2022, 11:00 AM GMT+2
ANALYSIS: Survey Finds Lawyer Burnout Rising, Well-Being Falling
June 28, 2021, 11:01 AM GMT+2

TOPICS

 * artificial intelligence
 * hours of work
 * lawyer well-being
 * coronavirus
 * layoffs

© 2023 Bloomberg Industry Group, Inc.
All Rights Reserved


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