How to Sustain the Unstainable - Coping With a Blizzard of Demands

Richard Reade, General Counsel, Coats Group plc, UK

Despite the long hours and relatively high rates of burn out within the legal profession, there is often still a lack of support for in house lawyers working under extreme pressure. Individuals can feel isolated and unsupported and despite the emergence of mental health programmes, much of the pastoral care seems to exist only after the event. Many countries face high inflation and weak economic growth. Many companies will face tighter profit margins and the inevitable large restructuring projects that follow will place great demands on in house teams. Those teams might already have suffered headcount reduction and remaining lawyers will be expected to absorb the new demands. This paper considers coping strategies that have been used by lawyers, with a particular emphasis on physical and mental health; psychology and management tools. Medical studies on the effects of stress are reviewed in the context of in house legal teams and practical suggestions are given on how effectively lawyers can adapt their working habits and environments to cope with the elevated stress levels.

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Management Manufacturing January 2023 Vol.16, No. 62, Winter 2023

Richard Reade

Richard is General Counsel at Coats Group plc and oversees Legal, Company Secretarial, Compliance and Insurance. He has extensive experience of managing international legal teams. At Coats he leads team from the UK, India, Indonesia, Bangladesh and Pakistan and which, collectively, serve over 50 countries across six continents. He has a passion for cultivating excellence within teams, which has been recognised by team members achieving award winning results. Prior to joining Coats, Richard led legal operations outside of North America for Weight Watchers International and prior to that he established the UK legal team for the largest company you’ve never heard of, ISS A/S. He is trained in leadership from Henley and Warwick business schools and from the British Army (having served for three years). He has particular interests in psychometric testing, psychology and mental health, and coping with adversity and preventing burn out.

Coats Group plc

Coats is the world’s leading industrial thread company. Headquartered in the UK, they have a workforce of 17,000 in some 50 countries, across six continents around the world. They provide complementary and value-adding products, services and software solutions to the apparel and footwear industries. They also operate in areas like personal protection, telecoms, energy, transportation, and household and recreation. Every three hours Coats makes enough thread to go the moon and back.

Management Manufacturing January 2023 Vol.16, No. 62, Winter 2023