Morning Briefing: Study says lawyers are still under pressure

Study says lawyers are still under pressure
The Law Society in England has published its findings of a survey into the health and wellbeing of lawyers. It found that UK solicitors enjoy better health on average than the population at large but that moderate stress levels are still a daily factor of a life in law.

Among the key findings:

• 85 per cent of solicitors reported being in good health, a slight fall from 88 per cent in 2013 but still four percentage points above figures for the working population nationally.
• On average, those taking time off due to ill-health or injury took 5.7 days, a fall from 6.6 days in 2013.
• 39 per cent of solicitors reported going to work when sick leave should have been taken, a fall from 45 per cent in 2013.
• 96 per cent of solicitors said they experienced negative stress, with 19 per cent at 'severe' or 'extreme' levels, a slight increase from 16 per cent in 2013. 

Elizabeth Rimmer, the chief executive of LawCare, which provides support to those in the legal profession, commented: “Lawyers are used to solving other people's problems and often find it hard to admit that they are not coping with the demands of work and may be worried that not coping may be seen as a weakness by colleagues. This shouldn't be the case.”
 
Law firm partners with IBM for cloud solution
International law firm Dentons has announced a partnership with technology giant IBM to offer a law solution for start-ups. Denton’s NextLaw Labs and IBM Cloud will offer new companies access to legal applications as part of IBM’s Bluemix platform. NextLaw Labs will be an active technology investor, accelerator and business incubator focusing on creating new products and services that will change the practice of law, improving client service and enhancing client solutions.

NextLaw Labs also announced a deal with its first portfolio company, ROSS Intelligence Inc., which is developing ROSS, an IBM Watson-powered legal advisor app that will streamline legal research, saving lawyers' time and clients’ money.
 
Corporate M&A hire at Eversheds Hong Kong
Eversheds in Hong Kong has hired Charles Butcher as a partner in its corporate M&A practice. He joins from a role as a consultant at Hogan Lovells. Butcher will work closely with Stephen Mok, Eversheds head of corporate in Asia, and Stephen Kitts, Asia managing partner to continue to grow the firm’s corporate M&A and private equity business in Asia.

Employment law specialist expands into Canada
Specialist employment law firm Littler has expanded its practice with its first office in Canada. The firm, which has multiple locations in the US, Central and South America, is now in Toronto having hired 7 lawyers including 6 from boutique employment firm Kuretzky Vassos Henderson.