Welfare at work is a crucial development area for the European Union. Mental health problems have grown as a proportion of overall welfare at work issues. According to a study carried out in 1991 in the USA, 11% of the lawyers who took part in the study had contemplated suicide. Another study carried out the same year charted the likelihood of representatives of 100 different occupations to suffer from depression. Lawyers topped the depression curve in this survey too.

Within the European Union, to my knowledge the only study charting the welfare at work of legal staff is the one by the Swedish lawyers’ association. Data from this study was published in the professional journal Advokaten no. 3 / 2006. Does any comparable research data exist in the European Union quantifying the mental health problems of people working in different occupations throughout the Union? Are there any statistics on mental health issues for workers in the legal professions in particular?