In 2018 three of the UK’s biggest banks and nine of the UK’s top law firms came together to author and launch an unprecedented alliance to change avoidable working practices that can cause mental health and well-being issues for employees. The Mindfulness Business Charter was developed.
In April 2025, The Business Case for Well-Being and the Mindful Business Charter was published – a white paper for law firms and beyond by Charlotte Clegg. It made several key points which included
“The case for prioritising workplace well-being in the legal sector is not only a moral obligation but also a compelling business imperative across law firms, in-house counsel teams and beyond.”
“The case for workplace well-being is clear: firms that invest in their people will be more resilient, more profitable and better placed to deliver exceptional service to their clients.”
The white paper contains some startling statistics, among them
Lawyers are twice as likely to contemplate suicide as the general population (Krill 2023)
Highly stressed employees are 11 times more likely to make mistakes than low stress employees (Wone 2025)
10.2% of annual staffing costs are lost per firm on average due to mental health related issues (Unmind 2024)
82% of those with a mental health condition did not disclose it at work (IPOS MORI 2019)
The full report can be accessed at Mindful Business Charter
These are some of the statistics but behind the statistics are real people. Through the work of Jonathan’s Voice we know of many individuals who find the workplace a very stressful place, make mistakes which cause further stress, experience dark thoughts and find it difficult to share how they are feeling with people in their organisation. Jonathan’s Voice was established because we had personal experience of this.
These challenges can be addressed. Our skilled and experienced team can help organisations to create the right support structures and practices in the workplace to support good mental health and well-being and so enable people to manage better the levels of stress they may experience. Our training is bespoke and planned in discussion with you.
It’s good for the individual and good for the business.
Please get in touch donna@jonathansvoice.org.uk
Val McCartney
