Singapore's Four-Year Attrition Study Pins the Cause on Structure, Not Character

A 223-page study commissioned by the Law Society of Singapore and released on 23 June 2026 is among the most comprehensive investigations of lawyer attrition ever conducted in a single jurisdiction. Drawing on surveys of 855 practising and former lawyers plus 31 in-depth interviews, the research concludes that attrition "stems not from individual failings, but from structural and cultural conditions that may have remained unchanged for decades." Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon had already warned in April that one in three new lawyers may quit within three years; the study provides the causal mechanism: culture operates "indirectly by systematically eroding health through accumulated stress, boundary violations, inadequate support and relentless time pressure sustained across months and years." For managing partners, the diagnostic implication is clear — EAP programs and meditation rooms operate downstream of the actual harm source. The study's immediate institutional response — a Judiciary–Law Society Joint Working Committee and a LawSoc task force — signals that systemic accountability mechanisms, not just firm-level wellness initiatives, are moving onto the agenda. Firms operating across Southeast Asia should treat this as an early indicator of regulatory and client expectations likely to follow elsewhere.