Dealing with the emotional side of the job

The latest Today's Wills and Probate podcast welcomes Emily Robertson, Associate from Burgess Mee, to talk about the impact her job has on her mental health and wellbeing.

Emily is part of the private client team dealing with Wills, Trusts, Probate and Court of Protection. She explains that each of the disciplines bring with them their own individual challenges not just from the point of view of the practice of law, but from an emotional point of view.

Often described as a "distress purchase" Emily discusses her experiences of dealing with clients at what is often a very difficult time in their lives, whether it's losing a loved one, or dealing with a loss of capacity.

She shares her thoughts on when clients might need guidance on the timing of moving legal process forward and shares how she will always ask her clients how involved they want her to be. She discusses how her job impacts her relationships at work and at home; and how important her "work family" are in supporting her.

But it's not all doom and gloom. Emily is passionate about her role and enjoys building relationships with people, being human with clients, breaking down stereotypes, and not taking on the grief of clients; sometimes, says Emily, you have to have a little bit of "gallows humour."

In an interesting discussion, Emily shares some of her learnings and coping mechanisms she has developed to deal with the stresses and strains of private client work.

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