‘Still a lot of work to do,’ says Bar Council chair
More than a quarter of barristers say they’re struggling to manage their workloads, according to new figures from the Bar Council.
The Wellbeing at the Bar Report 2025 shows that while wellbeing levels across the profession are on the rise, 27.2% of respondents admitted they were not managing their workloads well. Just over half (56%) said they were coping effectively — an improvement since the last survey, but still a reminder of the intense pressures many barristers face.
Across the board, the data paints a more positive picture. All four main wellbeing measures have improved since 2023, with 69% of respondents reporting good job satisfaction, up from 61% two years ago. Around 64% said they were in a good mood, and fewer reported feeling down or in low spirits. Meanwhile, over three-quarters (76%) agreed that they had supportive colleagues and a positive work environment, a steady increase since 2021.
Bar Council chair Barbara Mills KC said she was pleased to see another improvement in overall wellbeing at the bar and praised the dedication from individuals, chambers, specialist bar associations, circuits, and other sector organisations working to make that happen.
However, Mills stressed that “there is still a lot of work to do”. She noted that barristers across all practice areas face “unrelenting pressures and high expectations”, with many working in “an underfunded system” and often under significant stress. She also highlighted that those in criminal and family law, as well as younger, female, and minority ethnic barristers, continue to report lower levels of wellbeing than their peers.
For the first time, the survey asked barristers how they manage their own wellbeing. More than half of respondents shared their approaches, citing therapy and counselling, mentoring and peer support, and healthy lifestyle habits such as exercise, mindfulness, and taking regular breaks. Work-life balance also featured strongly, with many mentioning the importance of setting boundaries and switching off outside of working hours. You can check out Legal Cheek’s Chambers Most List 2026 for more insights into the work–life balance at the country’s leading sets.
Mills said one of her priorities this year has been shifting the culture at the bar towards a more proactive approach to wellbeing. She pointed to the introduction of Balint reflective practice groups, which give barristers a confidential space to reflect on their experiences, as a key part of that change.
She also found it encouraging that the most common theme identified in the research was professional support — through counselling, mentoring and peer networks — and said she hopes this becomes as standard a part of professional life as having an accountant or insurance.
This year’s report also includes a set of recommendations based on the findings, which the Bar Council hopes will help maintain momentum. These include expanding access to therapy and counselling services, promoting mentoring programmes and peer networks, pushing for fair legal aid rates and timely payments, encouraging chambers to support work-life balance initiatives, and tackling systemic issues such as court listing and judicial expectations.
Mills said she was pleased that many of the recommendations reflected the proactive approach the Bar Council has been championing. She added that the organisation had recently launched a new trauma-informed law training course to help practitioners address the effects of trauma and distress.
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