LawCare has been in the background of the profession for 25 years, quietly helping out those who need it, but since the pandemic the legal mental wellbeing charity has come into its own. It had its busiest ever year in 2020 and suddenly the whole sector has realised what LawCare has been championing for years: working practices in law undermine peoples’ health and wellbeing – but it doesn’t have to be that way.
Elizabeth Rimmer has been striving to change perceptions on that front since arriving as CEO in 2014. A solicitor by training, she left practice to study for a Masters degree in medical law and ethics, working as an office assistant for an Alzheimer’s charity on the side. When her boss there was signed off work – due to stress – she was asked to take over and her shift into the charity sector was complete. Then the LawCare role came up and she saw the perfect opportunity to combine her interest in law with her new career.
LawCare ran its first conference in 2022 and is working more closely with regulators and legal sector organisations of all kinds. More than just a ‘phone number to call when times get tough, the charity is now the foremost advocate of wellbeing in the profession. Rimmer likens it to banging the drum at the front of a parade, ensuring that everyone else can do their own thing while still heading in the right direction. It marches on in 2023.