Why Being a Lawyer Is Stressful & 7 Tips to Manage Lawyer Stress

Lawyers are high achievers by necessity. To succeed in the competitive, pressure-filled legal industry, successful attorneys have exceptional work ethic and perseverance. But that heightened capacity, unfortunately, also applies to increasing levels of lawyer stress. 

While any career in legal inevitably comes with some level of stress, an abundance of stress can negatively impact your physical health. Stress can manifest through mental health issues and physical symptoms like headaches, muscle pain, and digestive issues. Too much stress can even result in conditions like insomnia, burnout, and anxiety. 

Why is being a lawyer stressful? Every day, attorneys juggle challenging deadlines, long work hours, and complex matters. In addition, attorneys often have to communicate with clients in emotional situations. And, while practicing law is demanding no matter where you do it, different types of law practice areas like family or criminal hold additional emotional stressors. Add in bonus burdens like law school debt and it’s a near-perfect recipe for heightened stress. 

Being a lawyer doesn’t mean you’re doomed to live with high stress. You can’t avoid it entirely, but you can choose a thoughtful approach to stress and take care of yourself. In the following post, we’ll dive deeper into why being a lawyer is so stressful and what impacts stress can have on your physical and mental health. To help you get your stress in check, we’ll provide ways to better cope and manage lawyer stress.

Why is being a lawyer stressful?

Lawyers face multiple stressors every day. In addition to the pressure of helping clients through important or difficult legal matters, they also have to stay on top of an ever-changing industry and manage heavy workloads. Here are a few key reasons why being a lawyer is so stressful. 

Client facing

Whether you’re working remotely or interacting face-to-face, it is incredibly difficult to navigate challenging client personalities while shouldering and sharing the emotional burden of your clients’ situations. For example, if your client is going through a divorce, the stress of the situation can impact you as a lawyer. 

It is also not unusual for clients to take their negative feelings and stress from their legal situations out on their lawyers. This can add to the emotional and mental toll lawyers experience. 

Difficult matters

Practicing law is high stakes. Attorneys need to apply their professionalism to emotional or disturbing situations—in practice areas like criminal law, where you might be working on assault or murder cases. Working with clients or being around people who have experienced or are experiencing significant trauma and stress can take a toll on lawyers.

Long hours

It’s not a stereotype: Lawyers work very long hours. Most lawyers work outside the usual nine-to-five workday preparing court documents, communicating with clients, and catching up on non-billable work. 

As found in our 2022 Legal Trends Report, while most lawyers prefer to work a relatively traditional business day—starting at or before 9 a.m. and finishing by 5 p.m. The reality is that 56% of lawyers work after 5 p.m. and 28% work after 6 p.m. Notably—and perhaps alarmingly—11% of lawyers report working after 10 p.m. Additionally, 73% of lawyers are working outside of regular business days (Monday to Friday). Those long days, and extended work weeks add up over time and contribute to high lawyer stress.

The law is constantly changing

An attorney’s learning isn’t over the day they graduate from law school. In the legal profession, ongoing lawyer training is important—lawyers need to stay up-to-date with constantly changing rules and regulations in the law and important fields like cybercrime and data security.

Law school debt

Money is a big source of stress for anyone. The process of becoming a lawyer is highly expensive—student debt is all too common for law school graduates. 

As of 2024, the average federal student loan debt per borrower is approximately $37,853. For law school graduates, the average debt is notably higher. According to the Education Data Initiative, the average law school graduate owes about $130,000 in student loan debt. However, other sources, such as the American Bar Association (ABA), report higher figures. For instance, a 2020 ABA survey found that 95% of law school graduates borrowed money, with average debt exceeding $150,000. Similarly, an ABA Student Debt Update from September 2023 indicates that average law school debt has risen to $160,000.

Starting a legal career with a lot of debt can seem insurmountable at first when you graduate and have to start paying it all back. This means many lawyers are practicing with personal financial burdens weighing on them from day one.

How lawyer stress can affect you

Just as there are multiple sources of lawyer stress, the consequences of unmanaged stress can impact you in overlapping ways—physically, mentally, and socially:

Physical consequences

Stress is a normal human response to life. But constant stress—the kind that many lawyers deal with—can take a negative toll on your body. 

Acute bouts of stress and chronic stress can manifest into physical symptoms like fatigue, trouble sleeping, muscle tension and pain, stomach and digestive issues, headaches, and more. One major reason for this: Stress activates a human “fight-or-flight” response in the body and the release of stress hormones. An overabundance of stress hormone in your body can lead to physical symptoms. 

Mental consequences

An abundance of stress is an enemy to the mental wellness of lawyers. Unchecked, excessive stress can contribute to long-term mental health issues. This includes issues like depression, anxiety, and substance-addiction problems—all of which are prevalent in the legal profession. 

Social consequences

When you’re stressed, your relationships with friends, family, and even yourself suffer. Stressed-out lawyers get into a cycle of working and having work on their minds constantly—even on the weekends or when spending time with loved ones. If stress leads to overwork that tips the scale of your work-life balance in a negative way, that means less time—or less quality time—with the people you care about.

7 tips to cope

Encountering stress is inevitable in the legal profession. But the way you handle it can make a big difference in how stress impacts your career, health, and emotional well-being. 

As health psychologist and ClioCon 2018 speaker Kelly McGonigal told us, there are active things that lawyers can do to counteract the effects of stress:

“Often, coping better with stress means looking for activities that increase joy or meaning or connection—activities that strengthen you—rather than choosing the mindset that you’re just looking for something that will let you fall asleep at night.”

Here are six strategies to mitigate lawyer stress:

1. Go to therapy

Talking to someone like a trusted counselor or therapist that you feel comfortable with can be a powerful step for lawyers to proactively improve their mental wellness. In addition to helping you develop good coping mechanisms so you can manage stressful situations better, therapists can act as a non-judgmental sounding board.

2. Exercise

Moving your body with physical activity is time well spent for busy lawyers. Regular exercise is good for helping to keep your body healthy. Exercise also helps you relax and combat stress by stimulating endorphins and reducing levels of stress hormones. 

3. Know your limits and draw boundaries

As lawyer coach Terry Demeo discusses on Clio’s Daily Matters podcast, a lack of firm boundaries is a major source of lawyer stress. This means feeling like you need to be on call and responsive to work 24/7.

To help manage stress, it’s important to set and express your workload limits and boundaries. For example, if you’re a solo lawyer, set a realistic limit for how many clients and how much work you can take on. Then, make sure you stick to it. If you work at a law firm, if possible, tell your boss when too much is too much. While this may seem uncomfortable, knowing your limits can help keep the detrimental effects of lawyer burnout at bay.

You should also set clear expectations with your clients about how much of your time is available to them. Set these expectations at the start of their client journey. Then, have a system in place to maintain it. Instead of dropping everything on the weekend to respond to an email in detail, you could send a one-line response (or set up an automated reply) to confirm receipt. This lets the sender know you have gotten their message and you’ll respond in full at a later time. 

4. Keep up your hobbies

It’s important to recharge your batteries regularly. This means making time for non-work activities that bring you joy. 

This could mean returning to a pastime that you once loved but have neglected because of work pressure. This could be the time to pull out your old sewing machine or juggling clubs, for example. Or, it could mean making an effort to explore new hobbies. To help counter stress, Kelly suggests activities that let you immerse yourself in something you find pleasurable—or challenging. Additionally, the area of law you practice in might dictate how much free time you have to dedicate to hobbies. Learn more about the most and least stressful legal disciplines. 

5. Make time for loved ones

Another lawyer stress solution could be sitting in your home or at the other end of a phone call. Connecting with your loved ones can be a wonderful way to manage stress. If you’ve had a long, stressful workday, try unplugging from your devices and spending time with the people in your life who make you feel happy. 

Don’t stress about making elaborate plans all of the time, either: A simple video-call catch-up with a family member, playing a game with your kids, or watching a movie on the couch with your spouse can be an effective way to relax and recharge.

6. Practice mindfulness 

You can’t eliminate stress, but you can change how you respond to it. This is why mindfulness is so powerful. Mindfulness—or learning to pay attention and stay present in a moment—may seem simple, but it can be challenging to slow down and focus your stressed mind. You can learn more about mindfulness for lawyers here. 

Just as you use tech tools to help your law firm run more smoothly, you can also use technology to adjust to a mindfulness practice easier. Meditation apps like Headspace can help guide you through a mindfulness practice when you feel disconnected or zoned out. 

7. Set goals

Similarly, setting lawyer goals can be a powerful way to leverage focus for reduced stress. Think about it: It’s much easier (and less stressful) to run with a finish-line in mind than it is to run aimlessly. That’s why setting and working towards goals can give you a stronger feeling of control. And, as Kelly notes, “As soon as you introduce any element of control or autonomy, people become more resilient, even if the situation hasn’t changed.” 

Set goals that turn your attention to the bigger picture in your life and career. You can ask yourself, for example, where you want to be in a year, two years, and five years down the road.

Keep stress in check

Stress may be part of the legal profession—but it doesn’t have to be all-consuming. From heavy workloads to high-stakes cases and industry pressure, the demands can take a real toll on your mental and physical health. While you can’t eliminate every stressor, you can change how you respond. With the right tools and strategies—like mindfulness, movement, or speaking with a professional—you can build healthier, more sustainable habits for managing stress.

Technology can help, too. The right legal tech can automate routine tasks, streamline workflows, and free up time—giving law firms the space to grow their practice and support their well-being.

Do lawyers have a lot of stress?

Yes, lawyers often experience a great deal of stress. The job can be quite demanding, with long hours, difficult clients, high expectations, and sleepless nights. Additionally, the pressure to win cases and achieve success can be intense. These factors can overwhelm lawyers, particularly when they’re extremely busy. 

 

What is the most stressful part of being a lawyer?

The most stressful part of being a lawyer is achieving a positive outcome in their clients’ cases. This involves hard work and long hours behind the scenes, meeting multiple deadlines, coming into conflict with opposing counsel, managing internal resources, and alleviating the client’s own stress throughout the process.

How do lawyers deal with stress?

Some lawyers turn to exercise, yoga, or mindfulness to relax and relieve stress. Others rely heavily on their support networks, such as mentors, peers, or colleagues. Additionally, some lawyers may find solace in activities outside of work, such as spending time with family, engaging in hobbies, or taking vacations.

Why do lawyers have mental health issues?

Lawyers often have to juggle multiple cases and deadlines, which is incredibly stressful. They may also feel a sense of isolation due to the competitive nature of the profession. What’s more, long hours and high pressure can contribute to lawyers burning out and suffering from mental health issues.

Are lawyers more likely to be depressed?

Some studies suggest that lawyers are more likely to be depressed than the general population. This could be due to the high levels of stress associated with legal work, dealing with difficult clients, working long hours, and intense competition (both with opposing counsel and inside their own firm).

We published this blog post in May 2023. Last updated: April 21, 2025.

Posted in: Clio