Why understanding values, challenging stereotypes and fostering two-way learning is key to retaining the next generation of lawyers
A recent survey revealed that younger generations are demanding more than ever from their employers. Beyond good pay and a safe, non-toxic workplace, Gen Z and millennial workers are looking for flexibility, a sense of purpose, and genuine support for their wellbeing.
In this article, Laveen Ladharam, a corporate senior associate at an international law firm, and Hannah Kosky, a paralegal at the same firm and a practising psychotherapist, explore how City law firms can better support and engage younger lawyers from these generations. They draw on their experience in the legal industry and Hannah’s work in private practice, where she provides therapy to young professionals and delivers mental health workshops to law firms.
The problem
The survey, conducted by Deloitte, reveals that Gen Z and millennials place a strong emphasis on work-life balance, ethical leadership, and mental health. Yet in practice, many trainees and junior lawyers continue to face long, unpredictable hours and often feel disconnected from their work. The issue isn’t that Gen Z expects a strict 9–5 schedule—they simply want to understand how their efforts contribute to the bigger picture.
What complicates matters is that today’s junior lawyers are entering the profession at a uniquely difficult time.
Financially, these lawyers face high rents, high taxes, high transport costs and student loan repayments on top of trying to achieve life goals like saving up for a house. It’s no wonder that the Big 4 outfit listed financial concerns as a key worry for Gen Z and millennial workers.
But it’s more than just money. Millennial and Gen Z workers want their work to be meaningful and want to continue investing in themselves. Conversely, there is also a focus on work-life balance as the pandemic prompted reflection on the role work should play in a person’s life.
Unlike previous generations who often aimed to stay put and climb the ladder within a single firm, younger workers are less afraid to move on if a firm does not meet their needs, whether it is pay, a healthy work environment, the chance to learn or to make an impact. Firms must adapt.
What can be done?
We have spotted the issues, but what are the answers?
Some, like pay, can only be addressed with money. Others can be addressed by taking a different approach.
1. Removing stereotypes
Lawyers are clever and hard-working but there is a tendency to view Gen Z as the “snowflake generation” who are demanding, lazy, tech-obsessed, and easily offended. A survey from 2023 found that three-quarters of managers and business leaders view Gen Z as more challenging to work with than other generations.
This is unfair. Junior lawyers have succeeded at school, done well at university and generally want to make an impact. However, because these employees are young and inexperienced, they have much to learn before they succeed in law. The challenge for employers is how to harness the talent and drive of their younger colleagues whilst also meeting their own business needs.
The Deloitte survey smashes these stereotypes. Instead of “snowflakes” Gen Z and millennials are “focused on learning.” Indeed, Gen Z and millennials chose employers because they offer “learning and development” and “opportunities to progress.” And while being “tech-obsessed”, these younger workers are concerned about dealing with future challenges, such as AI.
Further, while Gen Z and millennial workers stated that “work/life balance” was a priority, it is noteworthy that these workers wanted to use that work/life balance to do something that they felt gave them meaning. Rather than “lazy”, it suggests that these workers are eager to contribute and make a difference.
From Hannah’s experience as a therapist, stereotypes mean that we’re more likely to judge people unfairly, interpret their behaviour through a distorted lens and limit their opportunities without realising it. Over time, this can result in unhappy staff and an unhappy workplace.
One solution is to ensure that managers are self-aware. Unconscious bias training is often unfairly maligned, but it is useful in revealing how stereotypes and perceptions of colleagues can influence work allocation, career progression and, ultimately, harmony within a team. By challenging and addressing these assumptions, firms can create and reinforce a positive work environment.
2. Meaningful work
Most young professionals want their work to matter. A sense of progress and impact is, therefore, incredibly motivating but can be rare in junior legal roles.
The term “meaningful” can, ironically, be quite vague since people are motivated by different things.
For some, it might mean making a social impact through their work which is easier for some firms than others. For instance, a law firm that works exclusively for oil and gas majors may be a difficult place for an environmentally conscious lawyer to make a social impact in their practice.
On an individual level, however, “meaning” can be ensuring that lawyers don’t feel alienated from their labour.
Trainees can sometimes be left completing isolated tasks at the last moment without any context. If this happens too often, this can lead to disconnection and eventually burnout. Sometimes this is a necessary part of the job. Law is a service industry, after all, and sometimes clients have demands that can only be dealt with at the last moment by junior lawyers.
However, when managing staff, supervisors should make the time to check in with their junior colleagues and involve juniors in post-deal or post-case reviews.
More fundamentally, it means providing trainees with an understanding of how their work fits into a bigger picture, giving them a sense of ownership with a task and ensuring that trainees can have the opportunity to grow. It also means providing staff with honest and constructive feedback and, where merited, praising them for a job well done.
3. Mentoring
One finding from the survey was that millennials and Gen Z want to “learn from their bosses but that these bosses miss the mark in relation to their development.” Gen Z and millennials want to develop their technical knowledge and soft-skills and believe that their managers should be better placed to help with this.
One of the most effective changes a firm can make is increasing interaction between junior and senior lawyers. When partners make the effort to work alongside junior colleagues whether by sharing an office or “sitting in the trenches” in an open-plan office, it builds trust and makes partner seem more approachable. It also encourages more people to come into the office.
Additionally, mentoring or ‘buddy’ schemes can foster learning, career development and connection with team members from different generations. The presence of senior lawyers shouldn’t be intimidating; it should be inspiring. Open communication and active mentoring should be embedded into the culture, not an optional extra.
4. Real mental health support (including therapy)
The survey found that 52% of Gen Z and 58% of millennials rate their mental well-being as “good” or “very good.” 40% of Gen Z and 34% of millennials say they feel stressed or anxious all or most of the time and about a third attribute their job as a major source of stress. Factors that exacerbate these are long hours, a lack of recognition and toxic workplaces.
The legal profession has improved in the way that it treats mental health since Laveen started as a trainee in 2015. Many firms now provide employee assistance packages (EAPs) and private medical insurance which include mental health support.
That support, however, remains surface-level. While offering EAPs or mindfulness sessions can be a step forward, many lawyers simply don’t have the time to access therapy services because their work is so busy and/or because they are reluctant to tell their managers that they need help.
Firms should put clear structures in place and actively communicate that employees are encouraged to connect with colleagues, get some fresh air during their lunch breaks, or attend therapy without guilt or stigma.
Final thoughts
This article itself is the result of a millennial lawyer and a Gen Z paralegal collaborating together and learning from each other, which is a good analogue for how firms can approach their junior lawyers.
Younger lawyers are entering the profession in a world shaped by economic uncertainty, digital transformation, and evolving ideas about work and wellbeing.
While they may respond differently or challenge traditional norms, the solution isn’t to dismiss them as “snowflakes.” Instead, by understanding the context in which they’re starting out, and fostering genuine two-way learning between juniors and seniors, firms have the chance to build stronger, more dynamic teams where people at every level can thrive.
Laveen Ladharam is a senior associate in the corporate and commercial team at the London office of an international law firm. Hannah Kosky is a paralegal at the same firm and also works as a counselling psychotherapist in private practice.
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