In-house pressure cooker — Why general counsel face higher burnout risks and how to avoid it

Gordon Cairns talks to Network Rail’s Roddy MacDougall and workplace wellbeing expert Professor Sir Cary Cooper about the pressures of in-house roles.

“The pressure can come from being closer to your clients. There is no separation between you,” says Roddy MacDougall, Head of Legal (Scotland) at Network Rail, summing up a crucial difference between working in-house rather than for a law practice.

Could this proximity increase the chances of burnout among in-house lawyers in a profession where incidences are already worryingly high? A Law Society of Scotland survey from 2023 found a third of all legal professionals had experienced burnout within the previous five years, while in the US, there has been a reverse migration of in-house lawyers switching back into law firms due to intense work pressure.

Roddy, who has experienced both environments, describes the unique set of circumstances faced when working in-house. Speaking from his Glasgow office where any colleague can come in and present him with an issue at any given moment, he tells me: “The risk is things won’t always go the way you want them to go, and I guess that can be stressful if you are not careful. You are not working for a number of clients – you can’t just move on to the next one.

“We are here every day. If you have to give someone bad news or something happens you didn’t necessarily want to happen, you are living with the consequences [every day].”

Unique challenges

He adds that in a company with the size and scope of Network Rail, those visitors to his office will have different priorities and perspectives, a pressure Roddy admits he relishes: “My job is to provide the best advice for the company overall. This might mean that something might have to be prioritised – say a safety issue – in a way that may have an impact on another part of the company. This might mean that people are sometimes getting advice they don’t want to hear.”

The priorities of a single entity like Network Rail are not always in alignment with each other, be it safety, keeping the trains running on time or spending the public purse wisely: “This can be challenging but you have to focus on what is best overall for the company rather than being influenced by somebody who you know really well or is a good advocate for their particular view.”

Thankfully for Roddy and his team, they receive support both internally and externally, with expert external legal resources and a budget, which takes the pressure off the in-house team, thus reducing the chances of burnout.

Another cause of burnout among in-house lawyers is the lack of recognition they receive within the business. Roddy explains: “A legal team can be seen as a necessary evil – we are not, for example, building things – and you can be working against a preconception of lawyers. Some people are a little intimidated by a lawyer.

“It’s for us to build credibility in the relationship but we won’t necessarily be seen as the key person in a project. You might have done a lot of work in the background, but people won’t always see that; therefore at times you have to be quite resilient and have a good understanding of your own value.”

He is quick to add: “We receive good feedback here and are appreciated but I do know a lot of in-house lawyers who can feel they are not understood or appreciated, which can be a lonely existence, especially if they are just a one-person [department].”

Sense of purpose

Roddy and his team appreciate being invited by their colleagues onto the frontline to see what is actually happening on the railway, giving them a sense of engagement and connection with the end product. “It’s nice to see if you have been working on a challenging agreement that has ultimately ended with something positive happening on the railway,” he says. “I can see the benefits of that, especially among the younger members of the team, giving them the understanding they actually are contributing to something real.”

He adds: “Knowing your own value and valuing your own time [is important].”

This is crucial when working for an organisation as large as Network Rail, when the working day’s goals can be derailed unexpectedly by people or events, potentially increasing stress levels. To avoid this, Roddy highlights the importance of establishing clear priorities: “We can be in that client service mode from working in a law firm, where most in-house people have worked before, where you want to be able to answer everything as quickly as you can and constantly be available. That’s a really good mindset to have, but you will want to shift it slightly as it’s a different environment. You can burn yourself out if you treat every request as your top priority in a big organisation. You will reach a point where you can’t sustain that.”

And as the leader of a team, Roddy is aware of the importance of supporting them: “Sometimes you have to be a little bit selfish. You have to put yourself first well before you reach burnout otherwise you won’t be able to help your colleagues, your clients or your team. My message to the team here is there will be times when you will have to say, ‘I’m putting myself first, I will not be able to do this as quickly as you’d like.’

“I’d rather someone prioritised their own mental health now than finding themselves burnt out in three months’ time as they just kept saying yes to work and never took the time to do some exercise, go to a school show or just switch off. It’s unrealistic to expect everyone to be 100% on, every single day, nine-to-five.”

Finding balance

Like Roddy, Professor Sir Cary Cooper, a chartered member of the British Psychological Society, also sees a clear difference between these two strands of legal work: “In-house law is a very high burnout profession compared to working in a general law firm. In the States a lot of people who are in-house lawyers are moving back to law firms. They think it’s easier.”

He explains why: “You have to ask yourself, ‘Am I enjoying the job?’ If not then you have to look at your other options. You shouldn’t stay in a job just because it’s big bucks and has status if it’s damaging your health. You have to look at your options given your skill base.

“Staying in a job that’s burning you out, making you anxious all the time, making you unhappy, when you can’t sleep at night – it’s not worth it.”

But he offers advice to prevent lawyers from reaching that point: “You should make sure you get a good night sleep, don’t work consistently long hours and don’t let your workload prioritise your private life. It is about taking exercise and ensuring you spend time with your family. Sometimes you may have to prioritise your work but make this as seldom as possible.”

He adds that it’s important to let your manager know how you are feeling: “Manage your time and let the senior people know, ‘I can’t take more work on, we need to hire more people.’ Nowadays a lot of professional firms know they won’t retain staff, they have to listen to them. Organisations have a duty of care and they are increasingly au fait with that.”