In this edition of Legal Voices, we speak with Richard Martin, a leading voice in the legal sector on mental health and workplace culture.
Drawing on his own lived experience of serious mental illness, Richard has become a passionate advocate for change - challenging long-standing perceptions and encouraging more open, supportive environments across the profession.
From his work with initiatives such as This is Me and the Mindful Business Charter, to his reflections on leadership, vulnerability and the realities of modern legal practice, Richard shares candid insights into what it takes to create healthier, more sustainable ways of working.
Looking back at your journey from experiencing serious mental illness to becoming an advocate for mental health, what has been the most vital lesson you’ve learned?
I think it is hard to pick out one particular lesson. From a personal point of view, I try to hold on to two mantras, one is that this (whatever difficult experience one is facing at any time) will pass, which became the title of a book I wrote about my experience of breakdown and recovery.
The other is that just because I think something, does not make it true – if we are kind to ourselves and try to be present with our thoughts we can step back from them at times and say, yes I know I might be thinking x,y z, for example that the world is falling apart and it is all my fault, that no-one likes me and so on, but that does not make it true.
Our brains are constantly pumping out thoughts, lots of which are amazing but some of which are utter garbage and do not need to preoccupy us – they are just thoughts and they too will likely pass.
In terms of my work, particularly in the legal profession, a positive note is around how easy it can be to make real change if we allow people the space to ask for what they need or don’t need to do their best job – most people are kind, they do not mean to cause each other stress, but we do it all the time, and if we could just learn to be a little more aware of the impact of our behaviours on ourselves and on each other and we gave each other the permission to talk about it, then it becomes possible to address the unnecessary sources of stress and remove them so we can work more healthily and more effectively.
On a more challenging note, it might be about just how hard it is to drive meaningful and sustainable change in a legal profession so bound to duty and perceptions of what good client service should look like.
How has sharing your own mental health story shaped the way you lead and support others in the workplace?
When we tell each other stories, we make connections and we give permission. If I tell you about my dog, you can tell me about yours and then we have a human (or canine) connection. Or you can ask me about my dog. If I tell you about my experience of mental illness, I am again making that connection and giving that permission.
So, I think it is a key part of why I am able to do the work I do, because I come from a place of open lived experience and that enables others to be vulnerable with me and people also understand that I come from a purpose driven place – my passion is genuine.
As a former lawyer working in private practice with in-house legal teams, how do you see mental health challenges differ between these environments?
I think there used to be a perception that in-house life was less demanding, less stressful, than private practice work. That is no longer the case and has not been for a while. The sources of stress may be different, just as the nature of the work and the relationships with key client voices will be different.
One obvious example is the expectation for in-house lawyers to be far more business orientated and commercially focussed in their advice which can be a real challenge for lawyers trained to deliver technical excellence.
Another might be the need for an in-house lawyer to speak out about what is the right thing to do in a situation when the business is thinking in a different way and judging when you need to do that and how best to do it. And for most in-house lawyers, this is happening in a much smaller team with fewer people around who understand their role and the challenges they may be facing.
What do you think has been the most significant shift in workplace attitudes toward mental health since you got involved with This is Me? And what is This is Me?
This is Me is a campaign which began within Barclays but was then adopted by the Lord Mayor of London to promote story telling to reduce the stigma around mental illness.
Barclays got a group of staff members to record short films about themselves where they would mention that alongside being (for example) an auditor, a parent and keen on sport, they had experienced some form of mental illness.
Alongside the connection and permission it created, there was also the sense that the illness did not define the whole person – they were not just someone who experienced depression but were all sorts of other things too and I think that is really important for everyone (including the person themselves of course) to keep in mind.
I remember a few years ago chairing an event at the Mansion House in London and a partner from one of the large accountancy firms told his story of mental illness and recovery and I remember thinking how if this had happened a few years earlier we would all have been embarrassed, looking at our papers or our shoes and hoping HR would come and take him away.
But, of course, what actually happened was that he touched and inspired everyone, and that has been the greatest change I have seen, that we talk about mental health in an open and largely honest way, even if we still have work to do to address the workplace causes of poor mental health.
The Mindful Business Charter (MBC) focuses on changing the workplace rather than the worker. Can you share an example of how this approach has transformed an organisation?
The legal team at Lloyds Banking Group have been key members of MBC from the launch back in 2018. As an early step their leaders said we are not going to take our work laptops and phones on holiday with us so will not be checking emails as a matter of course. If you need us urgently, you have our personal mobiles, and we will answer.
That simple step made a big change. It meant people stopped to think do I really need to bother this person about whatever it might be – so the leaders were much more likely to have a proper break. It demonstrated trust in their teams that they were being left to get on with things rather than having the boss constantly keeping an eye on things. And it set an example to everyone else to say you have the permission to do the same.
We all know that if we take our devices on holiday, we are going to use them. If we don’t take them we can’t use them. I know that will not work for everyone and there can be times when we need to be contactable but I am 100% sure that we over exaggerate how often that is really the case and what would actually happen if we left the laptop at home.
Which of the Charter’s pillars - openness and respect, smart meetings, respecting rest periods, or mindful delegation - is often hardest for organisations to implement, and why?
There are two things I would say here. The first is that any behavioural change can be hard and can take time because we are often overcoming deep rooted habits based on deep rooted assumptions, and because we often do not have the time or inclination to stop and think about what we are doing or its possible impact. So that applies to any of the pillars and is partly why learning from each other about how we have managed to make change can be so helpful.
The second is that from a service provider perspective (so a law firm dealing with a client or an in-house lawyer dealing with their internal client) it can feel very scary to push back, to challenge, to say no or not then, because of what we think good client service looks like and the fear we have of what the client, or the boss, might say.
Part of what lies at the heart of being an MBC member is that simply by being a member you are giving permission to those you are working with to do just that – it can still be hard to use that permission in practice and I get that.
How do you relax and recharge away from work?
I have a dog and he needs a walk every day so unless I have to be somewhere super early every day starts with an hour of exercise in nature with the dog. I don’t have to stop and think about it, it just happens. And I rarely look at my phone when I am out with the dog.
I also immerse myself in DIY and related stuff. I love a bit of carpentry or building something simple. It will never be a masterpiece but it is absorbing, rewarding and takes my mind completely away from the worries of work.
