As a candidate legal practitioner, after hearing from several colleagues in the legal profession about the mental health challenges they encounter in practice, I was inspired to write this article, highlighting the causes and possible solutions.

This article argues for the integration of psychology literature into undergraduate law school curricula to equip law students with a better understanding of the psychological impact of legal practice. Psychology – the science of how people think, feel, and behave – has a great deal to teach about the well-being of legal practitioners, as well as a range of core competencies related to effective lawyering.

The mental demands of a lawyer are often high. Lawyers often work long hours, have heavy workloads, and deal with difficult clients, seniors, and traumatic matters. They also have to meet unrealistic expectations, prepare legal documents, and maintain communication with colleagues and clients – all while juggling multiple cases at once. While some thrive in such a demanding environment, others find it overwhelming, leading to stress, anxiety, or even burnout. This can have an immense toll on their psychological well-being.

‘Given that lawyers deal so much with human behaviour in their daily work, you’d think law students would be required to have a strong grounding in psychology. Unfortunately, that’s not the case’ (Sara Martin ‘Lessons for lawyers’ (www.apa.org, 5-11-2023)).

A recent study conducted by the American Bar Association and Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation, published in the Journal of Addiction Medicine in 2016, found that 28% of legal practitioners reported experiencing depression, 19% reported experiencing anxiety, 23% reported experiencing stress, and 21% reported that their alcohol use has been a problem. Krill, PR; Johnson, R; Albert, L ‘The Prevalence of Substance Use and Other Mental Health Concerns Among American Attorneys’ (2016) 10(1) Journal of Addiction Medicine p 46 (https://journals.lww.com, accessed 30-11-2023).

The following factors can contribute to the psychological impact of legal practice:

• Long hours and high workload: Lawyers often work long hours and have a high workload, which can lead to stress, fatigue, and burnout.
• Dealing with difficult clients: Lawyers often have to deal with difficult clients, which can be emotionally draining.
• Exposure to traumatic material: Lawyers are often exposed to traumatic material, such as crime scenes and victim statements, which can have a negative impact on their mental health.
• ‘Lack of control: Lawyers often feel like they have little control over their work’, which can lead to feelings of helplessness and frustration (TalkCounsel ‘How to Decrease Lawyer Burnout and Attrition Rates: Legal Leaders’ Tips’ (www.linkedin.com, 5-11-2023)).
• Unrealistic expectations: Lawyers are often expected to be perfect and to work tirelessly, which can lead to feelings of inadequacy and guilt.

Despite the psychological challenges of legal practice, there is little or no focus on psychology in undergraduate law school curricula. This is a significant oversight, as a better understanding of psychology could help law students to prepare for the challenges they will face in practice.

Integrating psychology literature into law school curricula could help law students to:

• Understand the psychological impact of legal practice on themselves and their clients.
• Develop coping mechanisms to manage stress and anxiety.
• Build resilience in the face of challenges.
• Communicate effectively with clients and other legal professionals.

Below are some of the ways to integrate psychology literature into undergraduate law school curricula:

• A stand-alone module in lawyering and psychology.
• Offering an elective module in lawyering and psychology.
• Integrating psychology literature and lawyering into existing modules.
• Introduction of the following psychology topics inter alia: Perception, memory, communication, individual and group decision-making, conflict, goal setting and planning, self-assessment, motivation and grit. According to research conducted by psychologists, these topics have much to contribute to an understanding of the work of legal practitioners and can be effectively integrated into undergraduate law school curricula (JR Sternlight and JK Robbennolt ‘Psychology and effective lawyering: Insights for legal educators’ (2015) Scholarly Works 921).

By integrating psychology literature into law school curricula would help law students understand the psychological challenges of the job and developing coping mechanisms, law students can be better equipped to succeed and thrive in legal practice.

By contrast, medical schools in the U.S have ‘placed more focus than law schools on clinical education, and recently have begun to emphasize the importance of some aspects of psychology’ (Sternlight, JR and Robbennolt, JK ‘Psychology and Effective Lawyering: Insights for Legal Educators’ (2015) Scholarly Works 921. (https://scholars.law.unlv.edu, accessed 30-11-2023). Similarly, according to Randall Kiser, the ‘medical profession is years ahead of the legal profession in recognising the importance of emotional intelligence and incorporating psychology’ into its medical school curricula (Kiser, R ‘The Emotionally Attentive Lawyer: Balancing the Rule of Law with the Realities of Human Behaviour’ (2015) 15.2 Nevada Law Journal 442 (https://scholars.law.unlv.edu, accessed 30-11-2023). For example:

• Many medical schools now require students to take courses in psychology, such as behavioural science, social science, and medical ethics.
• Medical schools are also increasingly offering students opportunities to learn about psychology through clinical rotations, such as psychiatry, neurology, and paediatrics.
• Medical schools are also supporting research on the intersection of medicine and psychology.

While it might be desirable for all future legal practitioners to engage in a substantial course of psychological study, this is unrealistic. Legal practitioners would benefit from engaging in a substantial course of psychological study, but time in law school is limited. Rather than learning psychology as future researchers or therapists, law students need to learn aspects of psychology that will help them function more effectively as legal practitioners (Sternlight and Robbennolt (op cit)).

I hope that this discussion will encourage more law school Deans and faculty members in South African universities and elsewhere to consider integrating psychology literature into their undergraduate law school curricula.

Phathutshedzo C Ramaru LLB (Unisa) is a candidate legal practitioner in Johannesburg.

This article was first published in De Rebus in 2023 (Dec) DR 59.