Law360 Canada (November 25, 2025, 11:59 AM EST) -- The legal profession is going through seismic change as it grapples with things like artificial intelligence, but one issue that has been around for centuries still remains — stress.

According to the 2025 Lawyer Satisfaction Survey — which marks Law360 Canada’s third deep dive into the feelings and thoughts that legal professionals have about their jobs — 85 per cent of associates say they are at least sometimes stressed by their finances, along with 77 per cent of those at small firms. Overall, more than 70 per cent say they are at least sometimes stressed by their financial situations.

Among all respondents, nearly half said their work-life balance has stayed the same over the past year, with roughly a quarter each saying it had gotten better or worse. There were differences by job title, but they were fairly small, with associates slightly more likely to say their work-life balance had worsened (32 per cent) than partners (20 per cent) or others (26 per cent).

Forty-four per cent of all respondents said they work more than 50 hours per week, on average. Partners reported higher working hours, with a majority — 51 per cent — saying they worked more than 50 hours in a typical week. Forty-four percent of associates and 34 per cent of other lawyers said the same.

Lawyers at larger firms reported working longer hours: 55 per cent of those at firms with more than 50 lawyers said they work at least 51 hours per week, compared with only 38 per cent of those at firms with 50 or fewer lawyers.

Jennifer Mathers McHenry, founding partner at Mathers McHenry & Co., said the numbers “don’t surprise her.”

“The reality is this is a tough gig, and not everyone is going to be happy in it,” she said. “And I think there’s also absolutely nothing wrong, particularly at the associate level, with saying I am not where I am supposed to be, and I need something. We should be encouraging young lawyers to take some agency in their careers and there is not one path to success.”

Ellen Low of Ellen Low & Co. Employment Law agreed stress is part and parcel of the profession, but it tends to depend on what area of practice a person is in.

“Some will be naturally more stressful than others — some will be very time-sensitive, which can be extremely stressful based on the fact that there’s a short turnaround time, or there’s a demanding timeline,” she said. “I think other times we find that it’s stressful because the profession itself is constantly changing — the job is never the same, which is intellectually stimulating but can be very, very stressful, particularly when you’re in the heat of the moment and trying to recall an obscure rule of the Evidence Act while you’re trying to think through your submissions.”

But it is not all doom and gloom. Despite the stress and long hours, 70 per cent of respondents said they would choose to be a lawyer again if given another opportunity. Additionally, fewer than a quarter said they were likely or very likely to seek a new job within the next year.

The results of this survey are a combination of English and French responses, with 262 respondents in total. Of that group, 37 per cent were associates, 33 per cent were equity partners, nine per cent were counsel, five per cent were articling students, four per cent were non-equity partners and 11 per cent were other lawyers. Forty-nine per cent of respondents were male, 48 per cent were female, less than one per cent identified as non-binary and three per cent preferred not to identify.

In terms of provincial breakdowns, 46 per cent of respondents were from Ontario, 16 per cent from Alberta, 15 per cent from British Columbia, eight per cent from the Atlantic provinces (New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island), six per cent from Saskatchewan and Manitoba respectively, and four per cent from Quebec.

Sixty-six per cent of respondents were white, eight per cent South Asian, eight per cent other, four per cent Black, two per cent Chinese, two per cent Indigenous, one per cent or fewer Arab, Filipino, Japanese, Korean, Latin American, Southeast Asian, West Asian, with 10 per cent preferring not to identify.

If you have any information, story ideas or news tips for Law360 Canada, please contact Ian Burns at Ian.Burns@lexisnexis.ca or call 905-415-5906.