SRA links workplace culture, heavy workloads and client-service risk
For law firm leaders, the important shift is from treating distress as an employee-benefits issue to treating it as a quality and supervision issue.
Inside Practice · OCTOBER 28, 2026 · 1 MIN READ
On October 27, 2026, the Solicitors Regulation Authority published updated guidance stating that long hours, heavy workloads and cultures that discourage help-seeking can harm mental health and increase the risk of mistakes. For law firm leaders, the important shift is from treating distress as an employee-benefits issue to treating it as a quality and supervision issue. Work allocation, escalation routes and managers’ ability to spot strain therefore belong in the same controls framework as complaints, errors and professional indemnity. Firms should test whether their formal wellbeing promises remain usable during peak-demand periods, when speaking up carries the highest perceived career cost.