39,036-Lawyer Study Finds 47.4% Report High or Very High Burnout

On September 6, the Journal of Affective Disorders published online an abstract for Patrick R. Krill and Justin J. Anker’s multi-jurisdictional study of 39,036 lawyer respondents, reporting that 47.4% experienced high or very high work-related burnout. The weighted results also put moderate-or-higher symptoms at 21.6% for depression, 20.4% for anxiety and 18.9% for stress, while confidentiality and career concerns were the leading stated barriers to seeking help. For firm leaders, the scale and occupational correlations support treating burnout as a workforce-risk metric tied to work hours, practice setting and work-family conflict, not merely as an employee-benefit topic. The full article was not accessible during this review, so leaders should assess its methods and subgroup results before using the figures as a benchmark.