Overworked, bullied and burnt out: Is being a lawyer still a dream job?

**Natasha Ann Zachariah** (0:06)
Are lawyers in Singapore okay? Because the new study says not really. The recently released Anthro Lawsort Legal Profession Sustainability Study found that lawyers in private practice faced incivility and bullying on top of a tough work culture. For some, that means battling strict deadlines, being on call 24-7 for bosses, getting scolded and belittled by senior colleagues, and facing harsh interactions with some members of the judiciary. Now, many report feeling burnt out or anxious and struggling with their mental health.
That's kind of the gist of it, but it's raising some concern among the fraternity, especially because these issues are causing lawyers, in particular junior ones, to leave or consider other types of roles. Now, these issues are not new, but this study is getting some attention. MPs have even asked parliament about it. So what happens now?
I'm Natasha and welcome to another episode of The Usual Place, the podcast where we have real conversations about the headlines.
Joining me today are two lawyers at very different points in their career. So let me introduce them. First, I have Zhang Yu Fu, a junior lawyer at Denton Rodyk. Now, you were called to the bar in April. So you're now officially getting a full lawyering experience. And on the other thing you do on the side is you're a content creator, and you document on social media your journey as a lawyer, and other parts of your life as well. Welcome to The Usual Place, Yu Fu.

**Zhang Yu Fu** (1:25)
Thank you.

**Natasha Ann Zachariah** (1:26)
And next to you on the couch, I have Wong Yi. And Wong Yi, you're currently the General Counsel for Construction Company, Lum Chang Holdings.
And let me do a quick highlights reel of your past. So you were called to the bar in 2011
You worked for one of Singapore's big four law firms. You were the Chairman of the Young Lawyers Committee for the Law Society of Singapore, or LawSaw as we call it, for about five years. And you're also currently the Vice President of the Singapore Corporate Council Association, which looks out for in-house lawyers. And that's not all in your career. I mean, you've basically seen the profession from many angles, and you've still stayed.

**Wong Yi** (2:01)
Yeah. Thanks for having me here. Thank you for being here.

**Natasha Ann Zachariah** (2:05)
So, lots to dissect about this study.
But one of the things I got from reading it is that it's not a new problem. It's kind of like decades old, right? So, I want to find out, maybe from you, Wong Yi, first, why has nothing changed if these issues surfaced previously?

**Wong Yi** (2:19)
So, I think when the intro report first came out, great job. Kudos to Isaac and his team and the people who had the willpower to see through it from start to end from the various stakeholders.

**Natasha Ann Zachariah** (2:31)
Yeah, because it was a four-year study, right?

**Wong Yi** (2:32)
Yeah, four-year studies. And one of the more interesting and more curt comments I got from some of my peers were that it took them four years to come out with this. Like, we all knew this. So, the point is, it's not about the length of time it took, but we all knew this. And as you rightly alluded to just now, when I was heading up the Young Lawyers Committee, we tried to initiate certain studies under the previous leadership at Law Society as well, with my co-chair and the rest of the Young Lawyers Committee.
We gave some feedback, but I think it's a matter of timing, technology, as well as the whole macro sphere that was in question. So, timing, that was 2017 to 2020 when we first started it. Times are still, a lot of things have changed, not just because of COVID, but over the past 10 years. In terms of technology, we were doing it on our own. We didn't have the help and the expertise that Isaac and his team at Enthro had.
And also, I think why it took so long, because there were a lot of stakeholders involved. And we wanted, and I think it's good now, that we go beyond the perfunctory sort of reasons that, oh, Young Lawyers leave because they simply want to work life balance, they're burning out, because really the reality on the ground turns out to be a lot different from what was just widely being reported and swept under the carpet. So, I think it's about time. It's good that the soul searching can begin now with this report being published and a lot of people can look at themselves and say, hey, you know, I identify certain aspects which has affected my decision to leave or to stay, or I was actually one of those who perpetuated certain, you know, behaviors in the past and what can go on better from here.