bout 65% of LawCare's support contacts are female, with only about 35% being male, and whilst this ratio is not unique to LawCare, we want to explore what more we could and should be doing to encourage and support a greater number of male legal professionals with their mental health. We held a focus group in July to explore these issues. We will be launching a report of its findings and recommendations for International Men's Day.

Join us for this panel discussion to explore male legal professional's mental health experiences, the barriers to seeking support and learn about some of the steps that are already being taken to encourage men to speak up about their mental health.

Panellists:

Nick Bloy - Panel Chair, founder of Wellbeing Republic, Nick is an experienced wellbeing strategist and coach. He is a qualified lawyer and HR Business partner by background. Nick facilitated LawCare's focus group looking at the barriers to men seeking support and authored the report with our findings and recommendations.

Nick O’Neil – has had a successful career as a litigation solicitor, working in both the private and public sectors before joining Oriel Chambers as Chambers Director. He is a LawCare volunteer, mental health first aider and OU student coach / mentor.

James McFarlane - solicitor in Burness Paull’s Dispute Resolution team working in its contentious IP and Technology practice. James is a founding member of the wellbeing group for men in Scotland which was set up in order to help remove the stigma around men's mental health in the legal profession. He is also an MCR Pathways mentor and is a keen mental health ambassador for incoming trainees to Burness Paull.

Ryan McCuaig - solicitor at Shepherd & Wedderburn, and a LawCare Trustee. He is also Chair of Who Cares? Scotland, a charity which provides advocacy, connection and campaigning for people who have experienced the care system as children.

What's stopping men from speaking up about mental health?